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“Here’s to Adei.e who is fourteen to-day.” — Paqe 51 


ADELE DORING 
ON A RANCH 


By 

GRACE MAY NORTH 

Founder and Editor of the Sunnyside 
Club of California 


Illustrated by 

FLORENCE LILEY YOUNG 



BOSTON 

LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. 


Published, August, 1920 



Copyright, 1920, 

By Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. 

All Rights Reserved 

Adele Doring on a Ranch 


IRorwoofc press 

BERWICK & SMITH CO. 
Norwood, Mass. 

U. S. A. 

a i - 20b? 


Dedicated to 


Mary and Franklin Moore 

the desert children 
with whom I spent six happy months 
on the Bar M ranch in Arizona 









CONTENTS 


I. 

Adele’s Fourteenth Birthday ii 

II. 

A Letter from Eva . 

. 19 

III. 

Surprising Things Happen 

. 26 

IV. 

Enter, Donald Dare ! 

• 32 

V. 

A Joyous Reunion 

• 39 

VI. 

The Party Part 

. 46 

VII. 

The Birthday Box . 

• 52 

VIII. 

Amanda’s Bravery . 

. 61 

IX. 

The Indian Rug 

. 68 

X. 

A Wonderful Invitation 

. 73 

XJ. 

A Moment of Suspense 

. 78 

XII. 

The Last Day of School . 

. 82 

XIII. 

Joyous Preparations 

. 89 

XIV. 

A Race with the Limited 

. 96 

XV. 

A Telegram for Jack 

. 104 

XVI. 

An Exciting Hold-up 

. hi 

XVII. 

Waiting for the Train 

. 119 

XVIII. 

New Acquaintances . 

. 128 

XIX. 

The Mysterious Red Flag 

. 134 

XX. 

The Mystery Solved 

. 141 


7 


8 


CONTENTS 


XXL 

Jack Doring : Cowboy! . 

151 

XXII. 

Trying to Keep a Secret 

161 

XXIII. 

A Strange Party . 

170 

XXIV. 

Elsie Slater's Adventure 

174 

XXV. 

Meeting a Bear 

182 

XXVI. 

A Letter from Jack to Bob . 

187 

XXVII. 

Jack’s Narrow Escape . 

196 

XXVIII. 

Queer Kittens 

204 

XXIX. 

A Visitor from the Air 

211 

XXX. 

Troublesome Rumors 

220 

XXXI. 

Wonderful News . 

233 

XXXII. 

Bob Comes to the Front 

242 

XXXIII. 

The Round-up .... 

252 

XXXIV. 

Donald Dare’s Ranch . 

263 

XXXV. 

Around the Camp Fire . 

267 

XXXVI. 

Farewell to the Desert 

272 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


“ Here’s to Adele who is fourteen 

to-day” (Page 51) . Frontispiece 

Facing Page 

Eva ran forward with arms out- 
stretched 124^ 


The head of the bear appeared on 

a level with the girl . . . 184 

Then, around the rocks, came that 

beautiful Indian girl . . . 230 


9 


ADELE DORING 
ON A RANCH 


CHAPTER ONE 

adele's fourteenth birthday 

“The fifth of May 
It is to-day, 

And long ago on a lovely morn 
A little baby girl was born 
To be merry and cheery and gay.” 

Adele Doring sang happily as she pirou- 
etted on light toes about the sunny sewing- 
room, and then, quite out of breath, she sank 
down on a low stool. 

“Adorable Mumsie,” she exclaimed as she 
nestled her head close to her mother, a you 
just can’t guess how grateful I am for being 
your little girl. Wouldn’t it have been 
dreadful if I had been given to some one else 

fourteen years ago? I wouldn’t have had 
11 


12 


ADELE DORING 


you or Giant Daddy to love me, or Brother 
Jack to tease, or Kate to make me birthday 
cakes.” 

Then, springing up and cuddling down in 
her mother’s lap little-girl fashion, she mur- 
mured, “ Mumsie, do you know if I had had 
the choice of all the mothers in the world, I 
would have chosen you.” 

Mrs. Doring rested her cheek on the gold- 
brown head as she replied tenderly, “And 
do you know, Della, if Giant Daddy and I 
had been told to pick out a little girl for our 
very own, you are the one we would have 
selected? ” 

Adele laughed happily as she replied: 
“We’re what Brother Jack calls a mutual 
admiration society, aren’t we, Mumsie? But 
somehow on birthdays I can’t help think- 
ing how grateful and glad I am that I 
have such a nice home and such adorable 
parents.” Then, as another thought flashed 
into her mind, she sat up, and, looking at 
her mother with shining eyes, exclaimed: 
“ Oh, Mrs. Doring, you just ought to see the 


ON A RANCH 


13 


great, big, beautiful cake that Kate is mak- 
ing for me this very minute. It is covered 
with deep white frosting, and has ‘ Happy 
Birthday * written on it in pink letters, and 
the table is set out under the apple-trees 
that are all in bloom. Ho ! Here come the 
girls now, so I must skip down and meet 
them.” 

Giving her mother an impulsive hug, the 
lassie danced away, turning to throw a kiss 
from the open door. 

Mrs. Doring smiled happily as she re- 
sumed her sewing. How she dreaded the 
coming of that birthday which would change 
her daughter into a young lady, but at four- 
teen she was still a care-free, tender-hearted, 
loving little girl. 

A moment later Adele skipped out on the 
lawn with arms outstretched to greet the six 
maidens who, dressed in their prettiest 
summer muslins, were hurrying toward 
her. 

“ Happy birthday to the president of the 
Sunnyside Club ! ” they chorused gayly. 


14 


ADELE DORING 


“And may she live forever and ever,” 
Betty Burd sang out. “Girls, shall we 
give Della fourteen spanks or fourteen 
hugs? ” 

“ Not hugs, please,” implored Adele, “ for 
Kate said that it took her just ages to iron 
all these ruffles on my new birthday dress, 
and she would surely be heartbroken if they 
were crushed so soon.” 

“ HI tell you what,” the practical Bertha 
Angel suggested : “ let’s postpone the usual 
birthday demonstration until to-morrow, 
and then, when Adele has on her gingham 
school-dress, we will catch her unawares and 
hug her or spank her as we prefer.” 

“Agreed!” laughed Rosamond Wright. 
“ But I know well enough that we shall all 
hug her.” 

Adele led them to a spot under a spread- 
ing maple-tree, the leaves of which were 
silvery green. There they found cushions 
arranged in a circle upon the grass. 

“ Girls,” their president was saying, “ we 
decided to have a meeting of our club, first 


ON A RANCH 


15 


of all, to-day, and tell Doris some of the 
things that have happened while she and her 
mother have been away in the South.” 

“ Oh, good ! ” Doris Drexel exclaimed as 
she sank down on a soft red pillow. “ I had 
a wonderful time in Florida, of course, and 
I saw so many interesting things, but you 
just can’t guess how lonely I have been for 
all of you girls. I hope that I shall never 
have to spend another winter away from 
you.” 

“We missed you, too, Doris,” Adele re- 
plied. Then, when they were seated, she 
said, “It’s just a year ago to-day that 
our Sunnyside Club gave a surprise party 
for Eva Dearman, the little orphan girl 
whom we found so sad and lonely at the 
Home.” 

“ You found, you mean, Della,” Gertrude 
Willis corrected. “We did not find Eva, 
but, of course, we were all glad to help give 
the surprise party for the orphans, and how 
happy they were ! We who have had parties 
ever since we were tiny could hardly realize 


16 


ADELE DORING 


what a great pleasure it was to those home- 
less children whose lives are so barren,” 

“ Eva Dearman was different from the 
others,” Adele said. “ She had been brought 
up in a nice home, but her father lost his 
money, and then, when she was left an 
orphan and people thought that she hadn’t 
a relative in all the world, she was sent to 
the orphanage.” 

“It was so hard for her just at first,” 
Gertrude mused reminiscently, “but how 
brave and sunny she was, and so kind and 
sisterly to the other orphans, especially to 
that poor, forlorn Amanda Brown, whom 
every one seemed to dislike.” 

“And wasn’t it just like a story-book, the 
way it all ended ! ” Rosamond Wright, the 
romantic, exclaimed. “ Eva had been sent 
to live with those terrible Greens, who had 
recently made a lot of money and thought 
that they ought to snub every one who 
wasn’t as rich as they were. They made 
life miserable for poor Eva, and then, just 
when everything was blackest, such a nice 


ON A RANCH 


17 


uncle, whom she had supposed was dead, 
turned up and carried her West with him. 
And they took Amanda Brown, too, because 
she was so heartbroken when she thought 
that Eva was leaving her.” 

“We all went down to the train to see 
them off,” Doris Drexel continued, “and 
then, you remember, the very next day 
Mother and I left for Florida, and so I never 
knew how Eva liked her ranch home. I 
suppose that she wrote you about it, didn’t 
she, Della? I know that she loved you 
as dearly as if she had been your own 
sister.” 

“Yes, indeed, I have heard from Eva 
almost every week,” Adele replied brightly, 
“ but I’m not going to try to tell you about 
it, Doris, for I want you to hear Eva’s 
letters. Wait ! I’ll skip into the house and 
get them.” 

A moment later Adele returned with a 
pack of letters tied with a blue ribbon. 

“ I know that the other girls won’t mind 
hearing them again;” she said, ''as she 


18 


ADELE DORING 


dropped down on her cushion, “ for they are 
just as interesting as chapters in a story- 
book.” 

Then Adele opened the first letter and 
read it aloud. 


CHAPTER TWO 


A LETTER FROM EVA 

“ Dear Adele and the Sunny Six : 

“ Here we are at last in Arizona, and, 
although we have only been here two days, 
we have had such an interesting experience ; 
but, before I tell you about it, I want to de- 
scribe the desert. 

“ I remember that Betty Burd once said 
that she always skipped descriptions in a 
story, but don’t let her skip this, for, unless 
she knows what the place looks like, she 
won’t be able to understand the adventure. 

“ Now I must begin at the beginning ! 

“ We were four days on the train, and 
then, one morning just at sunrise, we ar- 
rived at Silver Creek station. Della, I 
shall never forget that first moment when 
I stood and gazed at the desert. The sun, 
like a ball of fire, was rising above a range 
of mountains in the east, and all about us, 
as far as we could see toward the north and 
west, was a flat waste of shining white sand 
on which grew scraggly bushes called 
mesquite, while here and there was a tall 
thorny cactus. 


19 


20 


ADELE DORING 


“ Uncle Dick, excusing himself, had has- 
tened to the baggage car and was assisting a 
lad, dressed in cowboy attire, to lift a big 
trunk down to the platform. Then the train 
puffed away and soon disappeared behind 
hills of sand, leaving us alone on that wide, 
silent desert. 

“We turned to look for the town, but 
there was none. One small building stood 
near the track, and Mandy and I were sur- 
prised to see that people really lived there. 
A middle-aged man in overalls had taken a 
mail-bag from the train, and a thin, lank 
boy of about fourteen sauntered out on the 
platform to see what was happening. They 
were Mr. Wells, the station-master, and 
Danny, his son ; and the house, as we learned 
later, was their home, general store, and 
post-office combined. 

“While we were watching them Uncle 
Dick came back with the good-looking young 
cowboy who had helped him with the trunk, 
and whom he introduced as Rusty Pete. 
The young man acted shy. I don’t believe 
that he is used to girls ; in fact, Uncle Dick 
says that there is only one girl of about our 
age for miles and miles around, and she is 
away at boarding sbhool. My, but I’m glad 
that I brought Amanda. Much as I love my 
daddy-uncle, I surely would have been lone- 
some without a girl to whom I could chat- 
ter.” 


ON A RANCH 


21 


“Well, I should think so,” Betty Burd 
interrupted. “ Girls, can you imagine how 
dreadful it would be if one of us was away 
off on a desert without the other six? ” 

“It surely is not pleasant to contem- 
plate,” Doris said with a shiver. “But, 
Della, do go on ; I am ever so eager to hear 
about Eva’s new home.” 

And so Adele continued reading. 

“After we had spoken a moment with the 
cowboy, he turned to Uncle Dick and said, 
‘ The iron pony is just around the station, 
Mr. Dearman,’ and we all walked in that 
direction. 

“ ‘ An iron pony ! ’ Mandy whispered to 
me. ‘What ever do you suppose that is, 
Eva?’ 

“ ‘ I’ll guess it’s an automobile,’ I had 
just said, and then we saw it. Girls, what 
do you think it was? A great big beauti- 
ful touring-car, every bit as luxurious as 
the one the Greens had ! 

“ 6 Oh, Uncle Dick,’ I cried, ‘ I never 
dreamed that there were automobiles on the 
desert. Does this one belong to you? ’ 

“ 6 It belongs to all three of us,” he laugh- 
ingly replied. ‘You and Mandy may each 
own a share in it.’ 


22 


ADELE DORING 


u Uncle Dick is just wonderful! He 
seems to be delighted to have two girls to 
look after; but, oh, Della, I never, never 
will be able to do enough to properly ex- 
press my gratitude, and Mandy feels the 
same. He says that all he wants us to do 
is to be happy, and of course we are that, — 
radiantly, jubilantly happy! 

“ Well, Mandy and I climbed up on the 
comfortable back seat and soon we were 
rolling along over a hard, white road. I was 
surprised to see bright-colored flowers blos- 
soming here and there in the sand, and, too, 
there were occasional clumps of wiry green 
grass. For about three miles the road fol- 
lowed along the steep, high banks of a dry 
river, which Uncle Dick told us was Silver 
Creek. We laughed and said that it was a 
funny kind of creek, without any water in 
it, and Uncle Dick replied, 1 Just wait until 
the rainy season comes. You will behold 
the liveliest stream that you ever saw, for 
then the water rushes down from the moun- 
tains in a raging torrent/ 

“ Soon the road began to climb a mesa. I 
remembered enough of my geography to 
know the name of the flat table-land the 
moment I saw it. * Now keep watching/ 
Uncle Dick called over his shoulder, ‘ and in 
another second you will behold the turrets 
of your future home/ 

“ Mandy and I peered eagerly ahead, and 


ON A RANCH 


23 


when we reached the other edge of the mesa 
we saw, on the desert below, a big adobe 
house, and, to my surprise, there were wil- 
low trees growing near by. 

“ i Why, Uncle Dick/ I cried, c what can 
it mean? Such a garden place right in the 
desert ! ’ 

“ ‘ It’s an oasis/ Uncle Dick told us ; 
1 otherwise known in these parts as a water- 
hole. If it wasn’t for these water-holes, 
cattle would often die of thirst. When they 
are out on the range, they sometimes travel 
miles to find one.’ 

“Now comes the biggest surprise of all, 
for, of course, I expected that Mandy and I 
were to keep house for Uncle Dick and his 
cowboys. But what do you think? He 
has a middle-aged Mexican woman, whom he 
calls Senora Gabriella, for a housekeeper, 
and her beautiful, black-eyed daughter, 
Bonita, who is sixteen years old, helps her. 
I liked them both right away, and so did 
Mandy. They live in a small adobe house 
down near Silver Creek. Senora’s husband, 
Miguel, is one of Uncle’s range-riders and is 
seldom at home. 

“ Oh, Della, I can hardly wait to have you 
see this wonderful ranch house. It is sur- 
rounded by a wide veranda, and all of the 
rooms open out on it. I just had to squeal 
for joy when I saw the living-room. It is 
so exactly as I had hoped that it would be. 


24 


ADELE DORING 


It extends across the front of the house and 
has a wide fireplace at one side, and when 
we came, a mesquite root was burning in it, 
for these October days are pretty cold, but, 
oh, it’s such a crispy, glorious cold! It 
makes one feel like racing and shouting just 
for the joy of it. 

“ Overhead there are heavy rafters. Then 
there’s a long center table with magazines 
and papers scattered over it, and there are 
easy-chairs just built for cosy comfort. An 
Edison talking-machine stands in one cor- 
ner, with lots of records, and there are cases 
full of books, for Uncle Dick is a great 
reader; and, oh, yes, on the wall is a bear 
skin. Think of it, Della ! Uncle Dick shot 
that bear one day when he was riding in the 
mountains, but that was ten years ago. He 
says that he has not seen one since. I tell 
you this for fear you may say that you do 
not care to visit me if you are likely to be 
eaten by a bear. 

“ Senorita Bonita beckoned while we 
stood gazing about us, and, opening a door, 
she led us into a sunny bedroom, which 
looked right out on the oasis. I’m not going 
to call it a water-hole, because that isn’t a 
pretty enough name for it. 6 This is your 
room, Senorita Eva,’ she said, ‘ and here is 
the other.’ Then, turning, she left us. How 
glad I am that the housekeeper and her 
daughter can speak English, even though it 


ON A RANCH 


25 


does sound a little queer, for Mandy and I 
do not know a single word of any language 
but our own. Bonita bas the sweetest voice, 
soft and purring. 

“ Well, when we were alone, Mandy and I 
put down our bags and just flew into each 
other’s arms, laughing and crying together, 
for, Della, when you have been two orphans 
without any of your own folks to love you, 
and then suddenly find that you have such 
a kind, good daddy-uncle, and such a nice 
home, and everything just as other girls 
have, it surely is hard not to cry, even if 
the tears are those of joy. 

“ But suddenly there came a rapping on 
our door and Uncle Dick sang out, ‘Ding 
dong ! First call to dinner ! ’ 

“ O dear ! here comes Rusty Pete for the 
mail. He is going to Douglas to-day, and 
we have to send our letters in whenever we 
get a chance; but I’ll begin another one to 
you right away, for I haven’t even started to 
tell you about the exciting adventure that 
we had. 

" Good-by for now, darling Della. Give 
my love to the Sunny Six and write soon to 
your very happy, though always lonely for 
you , 


“ Fkiend Eva.” 


CHAPTER THREE 

SURPEISING THINGS HAPPEN 

“ Oh, Della, don’t stop!” Doris exclaimed. 
“ Do read the next letter. I am ever so in- 
terested, and I want to know what exciting 
thing happened to Eva.” 

“ Yes, do read it,” Betty Burd chimed in. 
“ Won’t Doris be surprised when she finds 
out what happened ! ” 

“Don’t you tell her, Betty,” Rosamond 
warned. “ Let Della read the letter.” 

“ I’ll read it if I can find it,” Adele said 
as she looked through her pack. Then she 
exclaimed, “Here it is; and oh, Doris, you 
surely will be as delighted as we were when 
you hear what it is all about.” 

Then, having greatly aroused the curi- 
osity of that maiden, she proceeded to read 
Eva’s second letter: 

26 


ON A RANCH 


27 


“ Silver Creek , Arizona. 

“ Dear Della and the Sunny Six : 

“ I said I would begin another letter 
right away, from where I left off last night. 
Well, when Uncle Dick called us to dinner, 
Mandy and I bustled about, getting ready. 
We brushed the dust as best we could from 
our traveling dresses, and then we went 
into the living-room. 

* ‘ ‘ Whoever is hungry as a bear, 

Follow me out to my lair, ’ 

Uncle Dick chanted as he dropped the paper 
he had been reading and led us to the ve- 
randa near the oasis. There was a table set 
with six places. ‘ This is our pleasant- 
weather dining-room/ Uncle Dick told us. 
1 It adjoins the kitchen, and so it is easy for 
Bonita to serve us. In stormy weather we 
eat in the living-room.’ 

“ ‘ Then I hope that it will always be 
pleasant/ I declared, ‘ for this corner of the 
veranda makes the nicest dining-room.’ 

“‘Who are the other places set for?’ 
Mandy asked, and Uncle Dick told us that 
one belonged to Rusty Pete, who had gone 
back to Silver Creek on an errand. ‘ And 
the other two are for any passer-by who 
stops at the ranch near meal-time. , 

“ Think of that for hospitality, Della ! 
It is the custom of the desert for a cowboy 
out on the range to stay all night at what- 


28 


ADELE DOKING 


ever ranch may be nearest, and Uncle Dick 
says that no one asks him who he is, where 
he has come from, or where he is going, un- 
less he volunteers the information. 

“ When we were seated, Mandy and I on 
either side of Uncle Dick, who sat at one 
end of the long, narrow table, Senora Ga- 
briella brought on the dinner, and, oh, Della, 
guess what we had! Something just ever 
so nice ! I don’t believe that you can guess, 
so I will have to tell you. We had the most 
delicious fried quail and other good things 
besides. Mandy and I were just ravenously 
hungry, and we ate so much I laughingly 
told Uncle Dick that before long he might 
be sorry that he had adopted us. 

“ I just know that you girls are wondering 
what the exciting adventure was, about 
which I said that I would tell you. Well, 
this was the beginning of it : 

“As we were leaving the table we saw our 
automobile coming over the mesa. Rusty 
was driving, and Uncle Dick exclaimed, 
‘ Eva, here comes your trunk.’ 

“ ‘ But, Uncle Dick, I didn’t have a trunk,’ 
I said. ‘ It must belong to somebody else. 
I remember that there was a big trunk taken 
off the train at the station, but truly it was 
not mine.’ 

“‘Oh, ho! Is that so?’ Uncle Dick re- 
plied, with a twinkle in his eyes. ‘Well, 
let’s take a look at it, anyway.’ 


ON A RANCH 


29 


“ Rusty, having driven the car close to the 
veranda, shouldered the trunk and carried it 
into my room, Uncle Dick helping. Amanda 
and I followed, truly puzzled. When the 
big trunk was on the floor Uncle Dick ex- 
claimed, ‘ There, now, Mistress Eva ; read 
the label, and if the trunk is not for you, 
then Rusty will take it back to the station.’ 

“ The cowboy grinned with delight. I 
stooped and read, ‘ For Eva Dearman, Sil- 
ver Creek, Arizona.’ 

“ e Surely that is my name,’ I said. 6 You 
bought me a trunk, didn’t you, Uncle Dick? 
But what shall I put in it? I have almost 
no clothes at all, and neither has Amanda.’ 

“ i Maybe there is something in the trunk 
now,’ Uncle Dick suggested. i Here is the 
key. Suppose you look in and find out.’ 

“ I was so excited I could hardly turn the 
key, but when at last that trunk was open, 
what do you suppose? We found that it 
was packed full of clothes — two sets of 
everything that we could need, one for 
Amanda and one for me. There were soft 
cashmere house dresses and warm tailor- 
made suits with hats to go with them, and 
gingham morning dresses, and, best of all, 
there were two complete cowgirl costumes in 
pretty brown khaki, even to the leggins and 
broad-brimmed hats and red handkerchiefs 
to tie around our necks. 

“ ‘ Oh, Uncle Dick,’ I cried, and I just 


30 


ADELE DORING 


couldn’t say another word, but threw my 
arms about him and hugged him hard. 

“ ‘ There, there ! ’ he said, when Amanda 
tried to thank him. ‘ You two are my nieces 
and the only relatives I have, and it is a 
pleasure for me to give you things. Now, 
Rusty and I will leave you alone. Suppose 
you rig up in the cowgirl suits, and then I 
will show you something else.’ 

“While we were dressing Amanda ex- 
claimed : ‘ Eva, I know when your uncle 
bought these things. You remember he told 
us to wait in the Chicago station while he 
did an errand uptown. Well, he was gone 
two long hours, and filling this trunk for us, 
I do believe, was his errand.’ 

“ Oh, Adele, isn’t he the kindest and best 
Uncle Dick that you ever heard of? 

“ When Amanda and I had on the suits, 
from the leggins to the broad-brimmed hat, 
not forgetting the loosely-knotted red hand- 
kerchiefs, we skipped out to the living-room 
and gazed at ourselves in the long mir- 
ror, and Amanda cried : ‘ Eva, you make 
such a pretty cowgirl ! ’ And I replied : 
' You surely do, Mandy. That red handker- 
chief is so becoming to you, with your black 
hair and eyes.’ 

“ Della, you never would know that 
Amanda was the same girl who used to be 
called so homely and cross-looking in the 
orphanage. She is always smiling ; the 


ON A RANCH 


31 


frowns have disappeared with her unhappy 
past, and her hair, now that it is cared for, 
curls about her face in the prettiest ringlets. 

“ When we had admired ourselves front 
and back and from top to toe, we heard 
Uncle Dick calling, ‘ Ready, girls? ’ and we 
skipped out on the veranda, wondering what 
was going to happen next. Can you guess 
what we saw out there waiting for us? 
Well, turn over the page and you shall 
know.” 


CHAPTER FOUR 


ENTER, DONALD DARE ! 

“Is the next going to be the exciting 
part?” Doris Drexel asked eagerly, when 
Adele paused for breath. 

“ Oh, it keeps getting more and more ex- 
citing way to the end of the letter,” Peggy 
Pierce told her. “ Just wait till you hear.” 

“ Let me see, what did I say last? ” Adele 
questioned, turning back a sheet. “ Oh, 
yes : ” 

“ Mandy and I, dressed in our new cow- 
girl suits, skipped out to the veranda when 
Uncle Dick called, and what do you suppose 
we saw out there waiting for us? Some- 
thing I have wanted to own for ever so long 
but never dreamed that I would. Yes! 
Ponies! Not plump, roly-poly ones like 
Firefly and Star, but alert, wiry-looking 
creatures. 

“ ‘ Oh, Uncle Dick/ I cried in delight , c are 
we to ride them? * 

u c You are, indeed/ Uncle Dick laugh- 
ingly replied. c That is, you are to try to 
32 


ON A RANCH 


33 


ride them. You know that cow ponies some- 
times refuse to carry ladies, but you can’t 
tell what these particular ponies will do un- 
til you mount them. Isn’t that so, Rusty? ’ 

“ The cowboy grinned, but seeing how 
truly frightened Amanda and I were, Uncle 
Dick stopped teasing and said, 6 These 
ponies are well broken, Eva, and are guaran- 
teed not to throw a rider or to buck. Now 
let’s see what sort of horsewomen you are.’ 

“ Adele, I was so frightened when I found 
myself alone on the back of that brown pony 
that my heart went like a trip-hammer ; but 
I thought of you and how you gallop so fear- 
lessly on Firefly, and I said to myself, 
6 What Adele can do, I at least can try to 
do,’ and so I held on as best I could and 
away we went at a gentle pace. Uncle Dick 
rode at my side and Rusty stayed close to 
Amanda. After a time, when I found that 
Rocket, as Uncle Dick called my pony, had 
no intention of throwing me, I began to rest 
more comfortably in the saddle, and, as the 


ecs we neared this 
saiu . I have an errand at Hog 
canyon. I want to see if Donald Dare will 
help at the round-up.’ 

“ ‘ Oh, Uncle Dick,’ I exclaimed, ‘ why is 
this beautiful spot called Hog Canyon? ’ 


84 


ADELE DOBING 


“ ( Because a few years ago it was overrun 
with small wild hogs. Few of them are left, 
however. Oho ! Look yonder and you will 
see the object of my search breaking a young 
broncho.’ 

“ We had rounded a rocky point, and be- 
held, just in front of us, a hatless youth who 
was doing his best to stay on the back of a 
small horse that was rearing and plunging. 
We drew rein and watched. 

“ 1 Uncle Dick/ I cried in alarm, c surely 
that boy will be dashed on the rocks.* 

“ Uncle Dick’s face was grave, for the 
pony seemed determined to hurl its rider on 
the jagged boulders. Adele, I wish you 
might have seen the face of that boy. He 
was not angry, as some might have been, but 
he was determined to conquer. 

“ ‘ Donald Dare/ Uncle shouted, ‘ get that 
broncho away from the rocks if you can ! * 

“ The boy did not look up, but we knew 
that lie had heard, for suddenly the pony 
wheeled, and, like mad, it raced across the 
level desert. 

“ ‘ That’s better/ Uncle Dick said in a 
tone of relief. ‘ The boy will let it run now 
until it is tired, and then he will have mas- 
tered it for to-day ; to-morrow its spirit will 
be somewhat broken, and soon it will be as 
fine a saddle pony as Rocket there. Eva, I 
suppose you would hardly think it possible 
now, but the pony that you are riding 


ON A RANCH 


35 


was the wildest one that Rusty ever broke, 
and it threw him three times. I tell you it 
takes a pretty smart beast to do that; hey, 
Rusty? ’ 

“ ‘ Oh, Uncle Dick/ I exclaimed, ‘ do 
ponies ever go wild again after they have 
been broken? ’ I knew that I could never 
stick on Rocket’s back if he started to 
plunge and rear. 

“ ‘ No/ Uncle Dick replied. 6 Rocket has 
forgotten that he ever was a wild pony ex- 
cept when he meets a coyote, and that is al- 
most never, for coyotes are not particularly 
anxious to be met in the daytime. Ha! 
Here the triumphant hero comes.’ 

“We turned to see a foam-covered pony 
and a weary-looking but exultant rider 
rounding a point of rocks. 

“ 1 Well done, Donald Dare! ’ Uncle Dick 
called, as the boy rode up to us. ‘ The worst 
of your task is over now, and you are going 
to have a fine little horse there. Donald/ 
he added , c you knew that I left suddenly for 
the East to bring back a niece. Well, this 
is Eva, and the other little lady is her good 
friend, Amanda Brown.’ 

“ Donald snatched off his sombrero as he 
exclaimed brightly, C I am ever so glad to 
meet Mr. Dearman’s niece and her friend, 
and Mother will be so pleased to have you 
call upon her, for she, too, lived somewhere 
in the East when she was younger.’ 


36 


ADELE DOSING 


“ ‘ We are all coming over some day soon/ 
Uncle Dick replied , 6 but as yet the girls are 
not used to riding and I think that we have 
been far enough for a first lesson.’ Then he 
asked kindly, ‘How is your mother, Don- 
ald?’ 

“ The boy’s face saddened as he replied : 
‘ Mother is not at all well, I am quite sure, 
Mr. Dearman, but she thinks that I need her 
to take care of me and so she keeps up. She 
smiles in that brave way of hers whenever I 
look at her, but this morning, when she 
thought that I was reading, I saw an expres- 
sion on her face that showed me how she was 
suffering. I begged her to let me get some 
woman in Douglas to come and take care of 
her, but she will not.’ 

“ Amanda and I were much interested in 
the cowboy, who seemed to be such a fine 
lad, and that evening, when we were seated 
near the fireplace, in which a mesquite root 
was burning, I said, ‘ Uncle Dick, won’t you 
tell us something about the cowboy whom 
we saw this afternoon? ’ 

“ ‘ Willingly,’ Uncle replied. 6 But there 
is little that I can tell, for Donald Dare sel- 
dom speaks of his past. It was just a year 
ago that the boy and his mother came from, 
I know not where, and started housekeeping 
in a little adobe hut up in Hog Canyon. A 
man from the East had built the place, in- 
tending to live there and prove up on the 


ON A RANCH 


37 


land, but after a few months he returned to 
his native state, and so Donald Dare and his 
mother took undisputed possession. The 
lad works about on the neighboring ranches, 
and has a small herd of his own. He and 
his mother seem to be very poor, but they are 
so proud that one cannot inquire. The 
mother, who must have been a pretty girl, is 
a nice-mannered, brave little woman. The 
life on such an isolated ranch is lonely for 
her, but she is cheerful and uncomplaining. 
Donald is devoted to her, and now that he 
fears that she is ill, I know how it must 
grieve him.’ 

“‘What about his father?’ I asked. 
‘ Where is he? ’ 

“ ‘ Donald never spoke of his father but 
once,’ Uncle Dick replied. ‘ He was feeling 
so badly to think that he could not give his 
mother every comfort, and he exclaimed im- 
pulsively, “ You see, Mr. Dearman, it isn’t 
as though Mother was used to hardship, for 
she isn’t. She had every comfort in her 
eastern home when she was young, and then, 
perhaps unwisely, she ran away with my 
father and he soon squandered her money. 
Though she often wrote back to her sister, to 
tell where she was, she never received an 
answer, and now Mother believes that my 
father destroyed the letters and did not mail 
them.” 

“‘The boy felt very bitterly because of 


38 


ADELE DORING 


this/ Uncle Dick told us. ‘He spoke as 
though his father had died/ 

" 6 Poor boy/ I said. * Donald Dare is 
certainly a splendid son, isn’t he, Uncle 
Dick? ’ 

“ i Yes, he is a fine lad/ Uncle replied 
gravely ; ‘ the sort of boy I would wish for a 
son. But his real name isn’t Dare, Eva; 
that is a nickname the cowboys have given 
him because he is so daring, just as they call 
Pete “ Rusty.” Donald’s real name is Burn- 
ley.’ 

“ftfow, Adele, the moment Uncle Dick 
said that name, I was almost sure that I had 
heard it before, and it seems to me that I 
heard it in Sunnyside. Did you ever tell me 
anything about a Donald Burnley? 

“ Do write soon to your lovingest 

“ Eva.” 


CHAPTER FIVE 


A JOYOUS REUNION 

When Adele finished reading the letter, 
the girls were all sitting up and eagerly 
watching Doris, as though they could hardly 
keep from telling her something. 

“ Donald Burnley !” that maiden repeated. 
“ Was Eva right? Was that a name you had 
ever heard in Sunny side? ” 

“ I thought not, at first,” Adele replied. 
“And then, all of a sudden, it came to me just 
like an inspiration, and I ran into the house 
and cried, ‘ Mumsie, what was the name of 
the man, the one papa called an adventurer, 
who came to Sunnyside and married Miss 
Grackle’s younger sister and took her West 
somewhere and spent all of her money? 
You know Miss Grackle never had a letter 
from her and she was just heartbroken. 

She traveled for years in the West, but 
39 


40 ADELE DORING 

never could find a trace of her sister Me- 
linda.’ 

“And Mumsie said, ‘Why, Della, dear, 
that all happened so long ago; but wait a 
moment, perhaps I can remember. Oh, yes, 
I know now; the man’s name was Donald 
Burnley.’ ” 

By this time Doris was wide-eyed with 
excitement and eagerness, for the Sunnyside 
Club had done much the year before to try 
to comfort that lonely old lady, Miss 
Grackle. 

“ Adele ! ” she cried. “ Was that splendid 
boy really Miss Grackle’s nephew? Then 
his sick mother was her long-lost sister! 
Weren’t you glad when you heard it, and 
what did you do? ” 

“ Do? ” Adele repeated with glowing eyes. 
“I leaped on the back of Firefly without 
waiting to put on a saddle, and I galloped 
over to Miss Grackle’s house. I found her 
in the garden, tying up her asters. When 
she saw me, she came hurrying to the gate 
and asked eagerly, ‘ Why, Della, what is it? 


ON A RANCH 


41 


I know by your face that you have some- 
thing to tell me.’ 

“ I leaped from my pony and stood with 
the letter in my hand, and then, all of a 
sudden, I was afraid to tell her, for fear the 
shock would be too great. But, of course, 
she saw the letter, and asked, ‘ Della, have 
you some news for me? ’ 

“ I led her to a bench and we sat down. 
I told her about Eva, and said, as calmly as 
I could, that I had had a letter from her. 
Miss Grackle seemed disappointed. I sup- 
pose she was always hoping to hear from her 
sister, but she sat back and said that, since 
she remembered Eva, she would be glad to 
hear the letter. I read it all through, and, 
girls, I was so excited, but I tried not to let 
it show in my voice. When I came to that 
name, Donald Burnley, Miss Grackle gave 
a little cry, and I thought that she would 
faint, but she didn’t. Instead, a joyous 
light shone in her face, and in a quivering 
voice she said, ‘ Oh, Della, there can be no 
mistake ! It surely is my little lost sister, 


42 


ADELE DOBING 


Melinda, so far away in that lonely canyon. 
Maybe she is sick, and thinks that I don’t 
care because I never wrote; but I didn’t 
know where to write, Della, for her letters 
never reached me.’ Then she stretched her 
arms out toward the west and half sobbed : 
‘ But I do care, little sister, oh, how I do 
care ! And I am coming to you just as soon 
as ever I can.’ 

“ I thought that she must have forgotten 
that I was there, but she hadn’t, for she 
turned and said, ‘ Della, you have brought 
me the greatest happiness that I have ever 
known in my life, and now, if you have time, 
I would like you to help me, as I shall try to 
catch the five o’clock train for Arizona.’ ” 

“ Oh, Adele,” Doris said with tears in her 
eyes, “ it turned out just like a story-book, 
didn’t it? I was always so sorry for Miss 
Grackle. She was so alone in the world. 
She used to keep flowers in her sister’s room, 
so that if she should happen to come home 
unexpectedly, it would be cheerful and wait- 
ing for her. But do tell me what happened 


ON A RANCH 


43 


next. Did she get there in time to save Don- 
ald^ mother? ” 

“Yes, indeed!” Adele replied, “and a 
month later Miss Grackle came back and her 
sister was with her. They are living in the 
old home now, and Mrs. Burnley is much 
better. Donald wanted to stay on his ranch 
long enough to prove up on it, and Eva 
writes that he is working for her Uncle Dick 
much of the time ; he is just like a brother to 
the two girls.” 

“Eva always writes so admiringly of 
everything that Donald does. Don’t you 
think that maybe she likes him a little more 
than she would if he was a mere brother? ” 
the romantic Rosamond inquired. 

“ Oh, Rosie, of course she doesn’t ! ” Adele 
replied. “Eva would dearly love an own 
brother if she had one. I’m sure that I do 
Jack.” 

Rosamond tossed her head and set her 
yellow curls to bobbing. “ One might think 
that I had said something dreadful,” she 
declared. “I can’t see that there is any- 


44 


ADELE DORING 


thing wrong in admiring a boy in a way that 
isn’t brotherly.” Then, being a very good- 
natured girl, as well as a very pretty one, 
she laughingly added, “ I haven’t a brother 
of my own, and you all know that I like 
somebody else’s brother fairly well.” 

Bertha, who happened to be sitting next 
to Rose, slipped her arm about her as she 
said, “Rosamond, here and now, with the 
Sunnyside Club as witness, I adopt you as 
my sister, and then you may have Bobbie 
for a very own brother, but, I warn you, he 
is a dreadful tease when a girl is his sister.” 

Rosamond flushed prettily as she returned 
her friend’s embrace. People often won- 
dered at the strong friendship which existed 
between these two, for Bertha was studious 
and practical, while Rose preferred stories 
to text-books. 

But Rosamond was not to be entirely 
crushed by her perhaps more sensible club 
sisters. 

“Girls,” she announced, “whether I am 
called romantic or not, I am going to 


ON A RANCH 


45 


prophesy that some day Eva Dearman and 
Donald Burnley will be sweethearts.” 

“Very well, Prophetess Rose,” Peggy 
Pierce called merrily. “We will all write 
your words in our memories, and time alone 
can tell how true they are.” 

Just at that moment a silvery bell tinkled 
from the back of the house, and Adele 
sprang up, calling gayly, “Now for the 
party part ! Whoever is hungry as hungry 
can be, fall in line and follow me ! ” 


CHAPTER SIX 

THE PARTY PART 

“ Ohee ! ” the irrepressible Betty Burd 
squealed when Adele announced that it was 
time for the refreshments to be served. 
Then gayly the girls fell into line, Adele 
leading, and marched, Indian file, around 
the house to the back, where stood an old 
apple orchard, which, on this lovely May 
day, was pink and white with bloom. An 
oriole that was building its hammock-nest 
deep among the blossoms paused a moment 
to sing a joyous song as they approached. 
Adele held up one finger, and they stood lis- 
tening until the roundelay was over; then 
she exclaimed brightly, “It’s stylish, you 
know, to provide music for your guests.” 

“ There are few singers, Della, whose 

notes are so sweet and clear,” Gertrude had 
46 


ON A RANCH 


47 

just said, when Adele again held up one 
finger, and this time her lips formed the 
word, “Hush!” She listened intently a 
moment, and then she whispered, “I thought 
that I heard some one talking right close to 
us, but I don’t see any one at all.” 

Then unmistakably they all heard half- 
muffled laughter. It seemed to come from 
behind a hedge of currant bushes. Adele 
peered over, and then she exclaimed with 
pretended severity, “Bob Angel and Jack 
Doring, what are you doing there? ” 

“ Hunting for currants,” Bob replied mis- 
chievously, and then, with a merry laugh, he 
vaulted the hedge. 

“Indeed, sir?” his sister Bertha re- 
marked. “ You would have to stay there a 
couple of months, I’m thinking, for currants 
do not come until after the blossoms.” 

“ Well, now, is that so? I really am sur- 
prised,” Bob gayly replied. “Aren’t you, 
Jackie? Bertha is taking botany this year, 
and I suppose that’s why she knows so much 
about it.” 


48 


ADELE DORING 


“ Sure, I'm powerful surprised,” Jack re- 
plied, as he too leaped over the hedge. 

The girls, not deigning to notice them 
longer, had proceeded to the prettily deco- 
rated table which stood under the blossom- 
ing apple boughs, and sat on the benches 
which were on either side. 

The two boys stood near and conversed 
together. 

“Aha!” quoth Jack, pretending to have 
suddenly observed the table for the first 
time. “Friend Bob, what is this that we 
see before us? It savors of a feast ! Should 
we linger near, perchance these tender- 
hearted damsels would proffer us a frosted 
crumb.” 

“ Nay,” Bob replied disconsolately, “ I see 


.ate ap- 


ON A RANCH 


49 


peared in the kitchen door, carrying a huge 
birthday cake. The boys gave whoops of 
joy, leaped into the air, clicked their heels 
together, and then made a wild rush at the 
jolly Irish woman. 

“ Kate, me darlint,” Jack implored, “ that 
burden is much too heavy for you. Permit 
me to carry it.” 

“Ye young spalpeens!” Kate replied, 
trying to speak crossly. “Ye scared me so 
I ’most dropped the cake entoirely.” Then 
she just had to laugh at Jack’s woeful ex- 
pression, and so she added, “ Take it, if ye 
wish, but carry it careful; and you, Bob, 
come into the kitchen and help dip the ice- 
cream.” 

The boys did as they were told, and were 
soon busily helping Kate. Each time that 
they appeared with a plate of ice-cream or a 
glass of lemonade, they looked at the girls 
with comically dismal expressions, and then, 
on their way back to the kitchen, they took 
out big red cotton handkerchiefs and pre- 
tended to wipe their eyes. 


50 


ADELE DORING 


The girls no longer tried to keep from 
laughing, for when Bob and Jack set out to 
be clowns, they were irresistibly funny. 

When the last guest had been served the 
boys stood looking at the cake with long, 
doleful faces. 

“Oh, Jack and Bob,” Adele exclaimed 
laughingly, “ how can we be merry with you 
two looking as though you were at a fu- 
neral! Go into the kitchen and bring out 
some chairs. You may sit one at each end 
of the table.” 

With wild whoops of joy the boys darted 
kitchenward, reappearing a moment later 
with small wooden chairs balanced on their 
heads, a plate heaped with ice-cream in one 
hand and a glass of lemonade in the other. 

When they were seated, they beamed on 
the girls, and Jack declared, “ I will speak 
you a piece that I once learned : 

“ There were two young men so benighted, they 
never knew when they were slighted. 

They went to the party and ate just as hearty 
as if they’d been really invited.” 


ON A RANCH 


51 


“ Til do better than that,” Bob replied, as 
he waved his glass of lemonade in the air : 

“Here’s to Adele who is fourteen to-day. 

May she ever be pretty and witty and gay, 
And feed upon cake forever and aye. ’ ’ 

“ Thank you so much ! ” Adele merrily re- 
sponded. 

And then Bob, who was brimming over 
with the spirit of fun, lifted his glass to the 
girl who sat at his right. 

“And here’s to the maid with the golden curls, 
The fairest of all in the garden of girls. 

May she ever have whatever she wishes, 

Be it diamond rings or Haviland dishes.” 

“ Oh, Bob,” Rosamond declared, “ do stop 
making up rhymes, and eat your ice-cream. 
It is almost melted. Look at Jack. He 
only has one spoonful left.” 

And so, with merry bantering and laugh- 
ter, and with now and then a shower of 
petals fluttering about them, the delicious 
refreshments disappeared, and just as they 
had risen from the table, the postman’s 
whistle summoned them to the front lawn, 
where a surprise was waiting for Adele. 


CHAPTER SEVEN 

THE BIRTHDAY BOX 

The postman, who had known Adele since 
she was a baby, climbed out of the little 
Ford car in which were his mail-bags, for 
Mr. Brown had a rural route. 

“Well, Della,” he said, beaming at her 
from under his shaggy gray eyebrows, “ so 
this is the fifth of May and your birthday. 
I remember your first birthday and every 
one of them since, and, I declare to it, you 
haven’t changed a mite.” 

“Oh, Mr. Brown,” Adele laughed glee- 
fully, “ haven’t I changed since I was a little 
wee girl? ” 

“ Well, you’ve growed tall, of course,” the 
postman agreed. “ But years ago, when you 
didn’t stand any higher than my knee, you’d 

come a-running out to meet me with a face 
52 


ON A RANCH 


53 


that looked like sunshine, and you’d prattle, 
6 Misser Bown, dot any mail for me? ’ And 
Fd give you an advertising circular or some- 
thing; I always saved one of ’em for you. 
You ain’t changed none, Della, as far as the 
sunnyness goes, and I’m hoping and think- 
ing that you never will. But there,” he 
added suddenly, turning away, “ I’m for- 
getting my errand. I’ve a box here for 
you.” 

“ Oh, have you really? ” Adele cried 
eagerly. “Then it must be a birthday 
surprise. See, Jack, it’s from Arizona! I 
do believe that it is something from Eva.” 
When the box was on the grass, the happy 
girl turned, and, holding out her hand, she 
said : “ Thank you, Mr. Brown. You’ve al- 
ways been so good to bring me things.” 

The old man smiled down at her with a 
suspicion of tears in his eyes, and then mum- 
bling, “ Happy birthday, Della,” he climbed 
into his car and drove away. Adele little 
knew what her bright greeting through the 
years had meant to the lonely man who, long 


54 


ADELE DORING 


before, had lost his wife and his little girl, 
and who, ever since, had lived by himself. 

“ Let’s take the box over to that maple- 
tree where the cushions are,” Adele sug- 
gested. Jack had gone to get a hammer, 
and so Bob carried the small box to the spot 
indicated. 

“ Oh, I am so excited ! ” Adele exclaimed. 
“ There is such a fascination to me about 
Arizona and everything that comes from 
there. What do you suppose will be in the 
box? ” 

“ It’s something bright,” Betty Burd an- 
nounced. She was on her knees, watching 
Jack pry off the cover. 

“It looks like an Indian rug,” Peggy 
Pierce declared when Jack drew forth a 
bright-colored mat about three feet square. 

“ That’s just what it is ! ” Adele exclaimed 
in delight. “Do you suppose there are 
really, truly Indians in Arizona these 
days? ” 

“ To be sure there are ! ” Bob replied with 
twinkling eyes. “Whooping, scalping In- 


ON A RANCH 


55 


dians ! You’d better change your mind 
about going there this summer, Della.” 

“ Indeed, I will not,” Adele laughingly re- 
plied. “ The more excitement there is to be, 
the better I will like it. See! Here is a 
long, fat envelope tied to the rug. Sit down 
on the grass and I’ll read this letter from 
Eva. It will surely tell us all about it.” 

In a circle they sat, and Adele spread the 
bright rug in the middle, where it could be 
properly admired. There was a back- 
ground, almost the color of the desert, with 
a glow of sunlight, and in the center was a 
conventional black-and-green design that 
Gertrude suggested might be trees around a 
water-hole, while a brilliant red bird with 
wide-spread wings seemed to be soaring and 
singing in each corner. 

“ It must mean something joyous,” Ger- 
trude Willis declared. “ You know the In- 
dians tell stories by symbols on their baskets 
and rugs.” 

“ Perhaps Eva’s letter explains it,” Adele 
replied, as she tore open the long envelope. 


56 


ADELE DORING 


Then she added gleefully, “ Here it is in big 
letters: ‘ The Story of Your Birthday 
Rug.’ ” 

“ Silver Creek Ranch, Ariz. 

“ Dearest Adele : 

“ From the Land of the Burning Sun 
to the Land of Apple Blossoms ! Greetings 
to the one lassie in the world who is most 
truly fitted to be the queen of the May. 

“ There! Isn’t that quite poetical? Oh, 
Della, how Mandy and I do wish that we 
could be with you on this fifth day of May, 
as we were last year. Never, never will I 
forget how kind you were to me in those first 
dismally lonesome days that I spent at the 
orphanage, and yet I’m glad now that every- 
thing happened just as it did, for it brought 
me you and Amanda and darling Uncle Dick 
and such a wonderful home on the desert. 

“ For the past month Mandy and I have 
wondered and wondered what we would 
send you for a birthday gift. We wanted 
it to be different from anything you had ever 
had. Time was passing and we had not 
found it, when one day something exciting 
happened, and it resulted in just the sort of 
gift we had wanted for you. 

“Now, I will tell you the story of your 
birthday rug. 

“ It was March, and the rains had not yet 


ON A RANCH 


57 


come. Every day Uncle Dick would look 
over toward the mountains and shake his 
head when he saw only the gleaming blue of 
the sky. * No rain yet/ he would say, ‘ and 
the water-holes nearly dry. If it doesn’t 
come soon, the poor cattle out on the range 
will surely suffer.’ Then one morning he 
asked Mandy and me if we would like to 
ride to the nearest water-hole and see if it 
was entirely dry. 

“ Nothing could have delighted us more, 
and we were soon in our cowgirl suits and 
galloping away over the shining desert. The 
trail led along Silver Creek, which, during 
the dry season, has not even a trickle of 
water in it. Sometimes the banks of the 
creek rose sheer and high, and Uncle Dick 
explained to us that at flood time each year 
the torrents dug the bed deeper and deeper. 
c Possibly that is the way canyons are made/ 
he said. 

“ * When the rains come/ Mandy asked, 
‘ how long does it take the creek to fill? ’ 

“ ‘ Not long at all,” Uncle Dick replied. 
* There is often a cloudburst in the moun- 
tains; then in an hour or two the water 
sweeps down in a raging torrent that even 
the bravest horseman cannot ford.’ 

“ The trail had led us high on a mesa. 
Uncle Dick drew rein, and, shading his eyes, 
looked away toward the south. About a 
mile below us there was a clump of cotton- 


58 


ADELE DORING 


wood trees. These we knew grew close to a 
water-hole. As we watched it we saw a thin 
line of smoke curling up from beyond the 
trees. ‘Aha/ Uncle Dick said. ‘We have 
visitors, I see.’ 

“ ‘ Who do you think they are? ’ Mandy 
asked. 

“ ‘ Well/ Uncle Dick replied, ‘ they may 
be cowboys riding the range. And yet they 
may be Mexicans; the border is only five 
miles from there. Or it might even be a 
wandering band of Indians. Perhaps you 
girls would better ride back.’ 

“ ‘ Oh, Uncle Dick/ I pleaded, ‘ I do wish 
that you would let us go with you.’ And so, 
rather reluctantly, he consented, and again 
we started riding toward the water-hole. 

“As we rode around the clump of trees, 
Uncle Dick in the lead, we noticed that he 
kept one hand in the pocket of his coat, an- 
ticipating possible trouble. There were four 
Indian men seated near the camp fire play- 
ing a game of cards. They were rough and 
unkempt-looking, and for a moment I was 
truly frightened. They, however, paid us 
little attention, and, in reply to Uncle Dick’s 
friendly greeting, they merely grunted. An 
old Indian woman on the other side of the 
fire was preparing food in an earthen vessel, 
while in the shade of the trees sat a slim, 
graceful Indian girl of about sixteen. She 
was weaving a rug, and when she glanced up 


ON A RANCH 


59 


at us with her big dark eyes, Mandy and I 
thought that she was truly beautiful. 

“ Near her a six-year-old boy stood alert, 
holding a bow and arrow. Around his 
straight black hair was a beaded band, in 
front of which was a bright red feather. 

“ Uncle Dick, having dismounted, went to- 
ward the water-hole, and I, believing that 
the Indians were friendly, also dismounted 
and went toward the girl, leading my horse. 

“ ‘ Oh, how pretty ! ’ I exclaimed. ‘ Mandy, 
do come and see this beautiful rug/ 

“ The Indian girl said nothing, but held 
up the rug that we might look at it more 
closely. The Indian boy, who at first had 
leaped away like some wild thing, now 
cautiously returned, and, going close to 
Mandy, he put out one small brown hand 
and touched her. 4 Nice lady/ he said. 
Then, to our surprise, the Indian girl smil- 
ingly exclaimed, c Red Feather likes you be- 
cause you wear his color/ 

“ Mandy had a red handkerchief tied 
about her neck, a red leather belt, and a 
band of the same color about her hat. She 
was delighted at the little Indian boy’s 
preference for her. c He’s a darling ! ’ she 
exclaimed. 

“ Just then Uncle Dick reappeared, and 
saying e Good-by,’ we mounted our horses 
and rode away. As soon as we were out of 
hearing, I asked , 6 Uncle Dick, where do you 


60 


ADELE DORING 


suppose that Indian girl learned to speak 
such good English? ’ 

“ ‘ She was probably educated in one of 
the Government Indian schools/ Uncle Dick 
replied, 4 and then, unfortunately, for some 
reason, was obliged to return to her tribe.’ 

“That night Mandy said, ‘Eva, I wish 
that we might know that Indian girl better.’ 

“ The very next day we had an experience 
with an Indian which very nearly cost 
Amanda her life.” 


CHAPTER EIGHT 
AMANDA'S BRAVERY 

u Oh, Della ! ” Betty Burd exclaimed 
wide-eyed. “ Whatever was it that happened 
to Amanda? ” 

“ She must be all right now,” Adele re- 
plied, “ for in the beginning of her letter 
Eva told us that she and Mandy were send- 
ing me the birthday rug.” 

“ Go ahead, Sis,” Jack said. “ Of course 
it turns out all right, but we want to hear 
what happened.” 

So Adele continued reading Eva’s letter : 

“ The next morning we heard Uncle Dick 
up at dawn, and, hastily dressing, Mandy 
and I joined him at the breakfast table. He 
smiled in his usual cheery way, but some- 
how I knew that he was troubled. i Uncle 
Dick, what is wrong? ’ 1 asked. 

“ c I am very much worried because of the 
long drought, Little One,’ he replied. ‘I 
61 


62 


ADELE DOPING 


found practically no water at all in the hole 
yesterday. Donald Dare and Rusty Pete 
came in from the range last night, and they 
say that they passed many animals lying 
down, too weak from thirst to rise and come 
in with them. This morning we three are 
going to ride to the north and round up the 
cattle we find there and drive them in here 
to the wells. Rusty Pete says that the rains 
may come at any moment, but I can’t bear 
to think of those poor creatures dying of 
thirst, so I must try to help them. You and 
Mandy won’t mind staying alone, I am sure.’ 

“ ‘ Of course not,’ I replied. ‘ Nothing 
will hurt us.’ 

“We had forgotten all about the Indians 
we had seen at the water-hole the day before. 
Half an hour later we girls went out on the 
porch and stood with arms about each other, 
watching Uncle Dick, Donald Dare, and 
Rusty Pete as they rode up from the corral. 
Donald’s wiry broncho was feeling very 
lively, and it reared and plunged just as they 
were passing the porch ; then, when Donald 
had proved that he was master, he tri- 
umphantly waved his sombrero to us. 

“When they were gone, Mandy turned 
into the house and said, ‘Eva, for weeks I 
have been planning to write a long letter to 
that nice Madge Peterson, who was so kind 
to us last summer. The singing lessons 
which she had me take at the Dorchester In- 


ON A RANCH 


63 


stitute have brought me so much real happi- 
ness. Sometimes I go up on the mesa at 
sunrise and sing the wonderful song that 
dear old master taught me, “ The Awaken- 
ing Day.” 9 

“ ‘And I will write to Madge Peterson 
also/ I said. ‘ I surely enjoyed the draw- 
ing lessons which she had me take, and some 
day I will make a desert sketch for her.’ 

“ Half an hour later, our letters being 
written, we mounted our ponies and gal- 
loped along Silver Creek trail. 

“ ‘ How breathless and hot it is/ Mandy 
said. Then, chancing to look back, she 
whirled her pony about and exclaimed: 
‘ Eva, do look over toward the mountains. 
See those heavy black clouds, and the sun- 
shine is green. * What can it mean? ’ 

“ I looked and felt suddenly frightened. 
‘ Oh, Mandy/ I cried. ‘ How I do wish that 
Uncle Dick i ^d remained at home ! I do be- 
lieve that we are going to have one of those 
terrible cloudbursts that he has told us 
about. Come, let us gallop back to the 
ranch as fast as we can go.’ 

“Even as I spoke, we heard a rumbling 
like distant thunder, and the mountains 
were hidden from our view by the falling 
sheet of water. It was four miles back to 
the ranch and still another four miles to the 
station, and not a shelter either way larger 
than a mesquite bush. Our ponies, seeming 


64 


ADELE POKING 


to sense danger of some sort, with ears erect 
and dilating nostrils, fairly leaped over the 
hot, dry sand. 

“ The trail led along the steep bank of the 
creek, in which water was already appear- 
ing, and a sullen, distant roar told us that 
the torrent would soon be sweeping past us. 

“ Suddenly Mandy drew rein and there 
was a look of terror in her eyes. I gazed in 
the direction which she indicated and saw a 
small boy happily chasing a butterfly down 
in the river bed at a place where the banks 
rose a sheer six feet on either side. 

“ ‘ It’s little Red Feather/ Mandy said. 
‘He’s all alone, and he doesn’t know the 
danger he is in. Eva, I must save him.’ 

“ Before I realized what she was about, 
Mandy leaped from her pony and was 
scrambling down the steep embankment. 

“ The Indian boy looked up when she 
called to him, and, not understanding her 
cry of alarm, like some wild thing he sprang 
away from her, running toward the Indian 
camp, a mile up-stream, and in the direction 
from which the mountain torrent was being 
hurled. 

“ ‘ Come back, Mandy/ I shouted. c You 
can’t save him now.’ But she did not seem 
to hear. Suddenly a rush of water whirled 
around a steep cliff, and the Indian boy, 
frightened and bewildered, paused. Mandy 
overtook him, caught him in her arms, and 


ON A RANCH 


65 


ran toward the bank. This I saw she could 
not possibly climb. The whirling, surging 
water was up to her knees, and the roaring 
torrent was close upon us. I looked every- 
where across the desert, but saw no horse- 
man whom I could hail. If only I had 
brought a lariat, I thought wildly, I might 
have thrown it over to her ; but I had noth- 
ing. I was powerless to help ! The rapidly 
deepening water was up to Mandy’s waist, 
and I saw that she had lost her footing and 
was being swept down the stream. In an- 
other moment, with a deafening roar, the 
torrent was madly plunging between the 
high banks, and Mandy, helpless as a leaf, 
was hurled far out of my sight. 

“ Faint and weak, I mounted my pony and 
started in the direction of the ranch, hoping 
and praying that help would come to us. 
My prayer was answered, for suddenly a 
horseman appeared on the mesa trail, and 
then another. 

“ I shouted, but knowing that my voice 
could not be heard above the torrent, I stood 
up in my stirrups and waved frantically, 
hoping that at least I would be seen. To my 
joy the horseman in the lead waved his 
sombrero in reply and started galloping in 
my direction, the other following. As they 
drew nearer, I saw that it was Uncle Dick 
and Rusty Pete. How thankful I was. 
Uncle Dick’s face was pale when he saw the 


66 


ADELE DOPING 


riderless pony. ‘ Where is Mandy?’ he 
asked anxiously. 

“ Rapidly I told him what had happened. 
Without a word he whirled his horse and 
galloped down the stream. Rusty Pete and 
I followed. As we neared the bank I 
dreaded looking over into the surging tor- 
rent. Suddenly Uncle Dick drew rein and 
pointed toward the opposite cliff. How I 
hoped that by some miracle Mandy might 
have been saved ! 

“What I saw was the Indian boy, Red 
Feather, crouching on a small ledge, watch- 
ing with wide, startled eyes the water that 
was surging beneath him. But Mandy — 
where was Mandy? 

“Again I felt faint, but right at that mo- 
ment I heard a joyful shout from Rusty 
Pete, who had ridden farther down the 
stream. Uncle Dick and I galloped to his 
side, and, looking across the creek, I beheld 
a sight that I shall never forget. Our 
Mandy, with torn hands, was clinging to a 
mesquite bush on the opposite bank, the 
rushing water whirling about her, as though 
determined to drag her away. 

“ There’s not a second to lose,” Uncle 
Dick cried, leaping from his horse. ‘ That 
bush won’t hold much longer.’ But even 
before he had spoken Rusty Pete had 
plunged into the torrent and was battling 
his way toward the opposite bank. Dear 


ON A EANCH 


67 


brave Mandy heard his reassuring shout and 
smiled faintly. I knew that her strength 
was almost gone, that she could not hold on 
much longer, even if the bush held. 

“ Rusty Pete had reached the middle of 
the stream when a fresh torrent was hurled 
at him from above. He was swept from his 
course and in that same moment the mes- 

quite bush was uprooted, and Mandy 

I closed my eyes to shut out the sight, but 
opened them again when I heard a tri- 
umphant shout. There was Rusty Pete 
standing on the opposite bank with Mandy, 
weak and limp, in his arms. Uncle Dick, 
seeing that she was safe, made his way far- 
ther up-stream and rescued the Indian boy. 

“ To my surprise, for I never had seen a 
mountain torrent, the water was going down 
rapidly, and in a very short time it was quiet 
enough for the cowboy to carry Mandy to 
our side of the stream. Silently he mounted 
his horse, and, holding her in front of him, 
rode toward the ranch. I took Red Feather 
in front of me and followed. A cold misty 
rain was beating in our faces, but I was so 
anxious about Mandy I scarcely noticed it.” 


CHAPTER ISTESTE 


THE INDIAN RUG 

“Oh, that brave, brave girl!” Doris 
Drexel said with tears in her eyes. “I 
never would have had so much courage. 
What happened next, Della? ” 

“I suppose we never can tell what we 
would do until we see some one in real 
danger,” Adele replied, and then she con- 
tinued reading Eva’s letter : 

“For two long hours Mandy seemed too 
weak to open her eyes or speak to us. I 
stayed close to her bed, anxiously watching 
for some sign of returning consciousness. 
For the first time I clearly realized how very 
dear she was to me. 

“ 1 Do not worry about our brave Mandy, 
Little One,’ Uncle Dick said, as he came in 
for a moment and stood beside me. ‘ She is 
very, very weary now, and it will be days 
before she is quite herself again.’ 

“ ‘ Oh, Uncle Dick,’ I half sobbed , 1 wasn’t 
Mandy wonderful ! ’ 


68 


ON A RANCH 


69 


“‘Yes/ lie replied earnestly. ‘She was 
just that. Rusty Pete can’t get over marvel- 
ing at her courage and bravery. We have 
been down at the corral, opening the wells 
to catch all that we can of this precious 
rain, and time and again he said to me, 
“ Think of it, Mr. Dearman ; that mere slip 
of a girl facing a mountain torrent just to 
save a no-account Indian boy.” ’ 

“ When Uncle Dick was gone, and I was 
again alone in the room, which seemed 
strangely still, I thought over what he had 
said, and suddenly I realized that I had not 
seen the Indian boy since we entered the 
house. ‘Where could he be? Perhaps he 
has started for the water-hole where his 
tribe is camping/ I thought, ‘and yet he 
would hardly go out in all this storm.’ 

“ The rain, which at first had been but a 
cold, misty sleet, had now settled into a 
steady downpour. I was glad for the sake 
of the cattle dying of thirst out on the range. 
It was growing damp and chilly in that 
silent room, when Bonita entered with an 
armful of mesquite roots, which she threw 
on the grate. They were dry and burned 
brightly, making the room cheerier. 

“ ‘ Bonita/ I asked, ‘ have you seen the 
little Indian boy who was with us when we 
first came? ’ 

“ ‘ No, Sefiorita/ Bonita replied. 

“ When she was gone, I drew close to the 


70 


ADELE DORING 


fire. It was only mid-afternoon, but it was 
growing very dark. Suddenly I heard a 
rustling noise. I sprang up, feeling sure 
that Mandy had wakened, but she was still 
quietly sleeping. ‘ Then there must be 
some one else in the room,’ I thought, but I 
saw no one. Again I heard the sound, and 
this time it was like a faint sob. It seemed 
to come from under the bed. Stooping, I 
looked, and to my surprise I saw Red 
Feather crouching in the far, dark corner, 
crying softly. 

“ I called him and he came to me. I led 
him to the chair by the fire, and, lifting him 
to my lap, I held him close. To my sur- 
prise, he clung to me just as any other child 
would have done. Somehow I had supposed 
that Indians were without feeling. Then I 
remembered how frightened the little fellow 
must have been out in the raging torrent. 
‘ Dear little laddie/ I said soothingly, ‘ why 
do you cry? ’ 

“ ‘ Red Feather wants Winona/ he replied 
with a sob. 

“ c Winona must be the beautiful Indian 
girl who was weaving the rug/ I thought; 
and aloud I said, ‘Wait until the rain is 
over and Winona will come for her little 
Red Feather.’ But I was to learn that 
a sister’s love heeds not a storm, for even as 
I spoke, Bonita opened the door and said: 
1 Senorita, quick ! Look from the window. 


ON A RANCH 71 

Horsemen are coming, and I think they are 
Indians.’ 

“ I sprang up and looked out. At first I 
could see only the beating rain, but soon, 
through the mist, I saw a line of wiry mus- 
tangs coming single file down the mesa trail, 
and as they approached I made out that the 
riders were bronze-skinned Indians. In the 
lead was an old Indian who sat erect. He 
wore a large, heavy blanket with red and 
white bars about it. He was Gray Hawk, 
the chief. Following him were six younger 
braves in buckskin, and then came Winona, 
riding a small black horse. She, too, was 
protected from the storm by a heavy blanket. 
Several small burros, packed with coyote 
skins, ended the train. They were nearing 
the ranch house, and I could see the eager 
expression on the face of the Indian girl. 
Red Feather, who had also been watching, 
uttered a cry of joy and leaped away from 
me. Glancing at Mandy and seeing that 
she was quietly sleeping, I followed him. 
When I reached the porch Uncle Dick was 
talking to Gray Hawk, and Red Feather, 
like a little wild animal, was scrambling up 
to the back of the small horse that his 
sister rode. Winona’s arm held him close 
and her black eyes shone with a great happi- 
ness. Then it was that I learned that 
love is the same, whatever the color of the 
skin may be. 


72 


ADELE DORING 


“Winona rode nearer the porch and lis- 
tened with eager attention while Rusty Pete 
told how Mandy had saved Red Feather’s 
life. Then, unstrapping her pack, she took 
from it the finished rug that we had seen 
her weaving, and held it out to me, saying, 
6 Give this to Red Feather’s nice lady, and 
tell her that Winona will save her life some 
day if she can.’ 

“And then they silently rode away, and I 
stood watching them until they were gray, 
shadowy figures in the misty rain. 

“ When Mandy was able to sit up, I gave 
her the rug, and she joyously exclaimed: 
‘ Oh, Eva, we have been wishing that we 
had something different and beautiful for 
Adele’s birthday present. I would like to 
send her Winona’s rug.’ ” 

When Adele finished reading she looked 
up with tears in her eyes and said : “ But I 
can’t keep this wonderful rug. It never 
could really belong to any one but to dear, 
brave Amanda. I shall take it back to her 
when I go.” Then she added brightly, 
“ How I do hope that some day I am to meet 
that beautiful Indian girl.” 

Adele’s wish was to be fulfilled under very 
exciting circumstances. 


CHAPTER TEN 


A WONDERFUL INVITATION 

A week later Adele, skipping into the 
house after school, called merrily, “Adorable 
Mumsie, where are you? ” 

“ Up in the sewing-room,” a sweet voice 
replied. And Adele, leaping up the stairs, 
whirled into the sunny room, and, throwing 
her arms about her mother, exclaimed, 
“ Mumsie, do you notice how grown-up and 
dignified I act now that I am fourteen years 
old and almost a young lady? ” 

Before Mrs. Doring could reply, the side 
door down below closed rather noisily and a 
boy’s voice called, “Mummie, where are 
you? ” 

“ Up-stairs,” the mother responded with a 
rush of tenderness in her heart for these two 
whose first words each day when they came 
home from school were, “ Mother, where are 
you? ” 


73 


ADELE DORING 


n 

Jack climbed the stairs two steps at a 
time, which was so unusual for her rather 
indolent son that Mrs. Doring looked up in 
surprise. That good-looking boy tossed his 
cap in the air as he exclaimed, “ Mummie, 
I’ve been thinking all the way from school 
that Pd give everything and one thing more 
if I could really go West this summer and 
try my skill at broncho busting.” 

Adele’s eyes were shining. “And, oh, 
wouldn’t I love to go ! Do you suppose Mr. 
Dearman really meant it when he invited 
us?” 

“ Why, I supposed that he did,” Mrs. Dor- 
ing replied. “ Has Eva mentioned it lately 
in her letters? ” 

Adele shook her head. 

“ Ho ! There’s the postman this minute,” 
J ack declared, as he fairly leaped down the 
stairs to the door, returning a second later 
with an envelope in his hand. 

“Who is the letter for, Jackie?” Adele 
eagerly asked. 

“ It’s for a young lady who has a brown 


ON A RANCH 75 

braid with, a red ribbon on it,” that youth 
replied. 

“ Oh, goody,” Adele called out as she 
sprang from the low stool on which she had 
been sitting at her mother’s feet. “ Do let 
me have it, Jack.” But, just to tease, her 
tall brother held the letter high over her 
head. 

“Not until you guess where it is from,” 
he declared. 

“ Oh, that is just ever so easy, for I have 
only three correspondents in all the world, 
so it must be one of them. I am going to 
guess first that it is from Eva Dearman, be- 
cause I am so eager to hear from her.” 

“ Right you are, Sis,” Jack declared as he 
handed her the envelope. “ See, it’s post- 
marked 6 Silver Creek, Arizona.’ ” 

“How I do love to get letters from the 
desert,” Adele said as she reseated herself 
on the low stool and tore open the envelope. 
Jack, also interested, sat astride a chair, 
prepared to listen. * 

“ Read it aloud, Pet,” Mrs. Doring said. 


76 


ADELE DORING 


“ We all like to hear from Eva.” And so she 
read: 

“ Deably beloved Adele : 

“ I am so excited about some news 
that I have to tell you that my pen fairly 
dances ; that’s why it is making such wiggly 
letters. I know I ought to keep you in sus- 
pense for a time and try to make you guess 
my wonderful news, but I am so eager to tell 
you that I just can’.t. 

“About the middle of June my Uncle Dick 
will have to go to Chicago, and he told me to 
write to Mrs. Doring and say that if she is 
willing that you should travel that far alone, 
he will personally conduct you over the 
Rockies. Now, Della, write by return post 
and tell me that you will come. 

“ Love from Mandy and Eva. 

“ P. S. — It’s an hour later. Uncle Dick 
just came riding in from the range and I 
told him that I had been writing to you. 
‘ Good ! ’ he said. ‘And tell Adele to be sure 
to bring her brother Jack along, for I need 
another cowboy to help me this summer, and 
he may have the position, if he thinks he 
would like it.’ ” 

“ Whoopla ! ” Jack cried, leaping from the 
chair and capering about like a young In- 
dian. “ The wild and woolly West for me. 


ON A KANCH 77 

I thought I was going to be left out at first. 
Three cheers for Uncle Dick.” 

“ But, J ackie, Mother hasn’t yet said that 
we may go,” Adele exclaimed. 

“ Of course Mummie will be delighted to 
have us go,” Jack declared, as he sat on the 
arm of his mother’s chair. 

“ You did tell Mr. Dearman that I might 
visit Eva this summer if an older person 
happened to be traveling to the West, didn’t 
you, Mumsie? ” Adele asked eagerly. 

The mother smiled at her pleading chil- 
dren, and then, rising, she exclaimed: “I 
hear a car coming up the drive. I believe it 
is your father returning. We will go and 
meet him, and if he says that you may spend 
the summer in Arizona, why, then, of course 
you may.” 

“ Oh, you dear, adorable Mumsie ! ” Adele 
exclaimed, as she gave her mother an im- 
pulsive bear-hug. 


CHAPTER ELEVEN 
A MOMENT OF SUSPENSE 

Me. Doring was just stepping from his 
car, when Adele fairly flew down the side- 
porch steps and leaped upon him, almost 
choking him with the vigor of her embrace. 

“ Well ! Well ! ” he laughingly exclaimed, 
when she had released him. “What was 
that you told me last week about being four- 
teen now and a dignified young lady? ” 

“ Oh, Giant Daddy,” Adele cried, “ how 
could one be dignified when one is so excited 
about something? Here’s Mumsie and Jack. 
They will tell you what the 6 something ’ is, 
and, Giant Daddy, please, please, please, say 
Yes.” This last was whispered into her 
wondering father’s ear. 

“ You would better wait until we are at 
dinner, Adele,” Mrs. Doring suggested. 

78 


ON A EANCH 


79 


“ Kate says everytliing is ready to serve this 
very minute.” 

“ Don’t tell Dad until I come in,” Jack 
called, as he leaped into the car and drove it 
to the garage. 

A few minutes later a happy family was 
gathered around the table in the dining- 
room, and Kate, having served the soup, was 
lingering to hear what her little “ darlints ” 
were so excited about. 

“Well, now,” their father exclaimed, as 
he looked from one eager face to another, 
“ do tell me what has happened. It must be 
something very unusual, for I haven’t seen 
Jack so wide-awake in a long time.” 

Jack, having grown rapidly of late, was 
inclined to be indolent in his manner and in- 
disposed to do anything requiring effort. 

“ Mumsie, you tell the news,” Adele said, 
and her mother smilingly complied. 

“When the children came home from 
school this afternoon,” she began, “they 
were both saying how they did wish that they 
could go to Arizona and spend the summer 


80 


ADELE DORING 


on Mr. Dearman’s ranch. It surely sounds 
just like a story-book, for right at that mo- 
ment the postman came and brought Adele 
a letter from Eva, and in it she invited them 
both to come the middle of June, for Mr. 
Dearman is to be in Chicago on business at 
that time and will escort them over the 
Rockies.” 

“ Isn’t that just wonderful news? ” Adele 
cried with glowing eyes. “And you never, 
never could say No, could you, Giant 
Daddy? ” 

“ It will be the making of me, Dad,” Jack 
declared eagerly. “ Can’t you just see me 
riding bucking bronchos and lassoing wild 
cattle? ” 

Mr. Doring laughed merrily. 

“No, Jack,” he replied, “I do not find 
that an easy picture to vizualize. What I 
do see quite plainly is a bucking broncho 
throwing my son and heir over his head.” 

Jack flushed, but he replied earnestly, 
“ Of course, Dad, I would expect to be 
thrown a few times, but in the end I know I 


ON A RANCH 


81 


would conquer. What other men have done, 
surely I ought to be able to do.” 

“ That’s the right spirit, son,” his father 
heartily exclaimed ; “ and I gladly give my 
consent to the journey, believing that it will 
bring lessons of inestimable value to both 
you and Adele.” 

It would have been hard to find two hap- 
pier young people in all the world just at 
that moment. 


CHAPTER TWELVE 


THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL 

“ Pm so excited,” Adele confided to the 
Sunny Six one morning as they crossed the 
meadows, yellow and white with daisies and 
buttercups, on their way to school. “ I 
couldn’t possibly cram for exams this year 
the way we did last. Yesterday I took my 
books over to the woods, thinking that it 
would be quiet there for a little review, but 
I just couldn’t keep my mind on the lessons. 
Instead of maps and problems, I was seeing 
visions in which I was galloping over the 
desert with Eva and Mandy. Oh, girls, isn’t 
it just too wonderful that I can go ! ” 

The Sunny Six tried to appear enthusi- 
astic, but they were all feeling a bit sad be- 
cause they were to lose their dear Adele. 

“ It’s selfish of me, I know,” Betty Burd 
exclaimed impulsively, “ but your going 
82 


ON A RANCH 


83 


away, Della, makes me feel as gloomy as a 
funeral.” 

“Why, Betsy,” Peggy Pierce protested, 
“ didn’t we agree not to let Della know how 
lonesome we were going to be without her? ” 

“ Oh, girls,” Adele cried, tears springing 
to her eyes, “ shall you really miss me that 
much? How I do wish that I could take 
you all with me! But since I can’t, I’ll 
write you a volume of a letter every week, 
and you take it over to our little log cabin 
and read it aloud. Then I want every one 
of you to answer it. Receiving mail must 
be great fun out on the desert, when you 
have to ride eight miles on horseback to 
get it.” 

“ That’s one thing, Adele, they won’t have 
to teach you,” Bertha Angel declared with 
pride. “ I don’t believe there is a cowgirl 
in all Arizona who can ride better than you 
can.” 

“ Thanks, Burdie,” Adele replied, “ but I 
am not so confident. I fear that a well-fed, 
respectable little pony like mine is quite dif- 


84 


ADELE DORING 


ferent from a wild and wiry mustang, but if 
only I can stick on, the wilder they are the 
better I shall like it.” 

May passed and June came. The apple- 
blossoms fell to the ground, but the Doring 
home was still a bower of loveliness, for the 
rose vines that clambered over the verandas 
were white and gold with bloom, and the air 
was sweet with the fragrance of honey- 
suckle. Too, there were late lilacs still 
blossoming at the gate. 

Each morning when the robins that lived 
just outside of Adele’s open window awoke 
with a joyous, cheery song, that maiden 
would leap from her bed, and, skipping to 
her calendar, would make a red cross on the 
date. “ One day nearer to my wonderful 
journey,” she would think gleefully, as she 
would climb back into bed to await the call 
of the rising bell. 

And in due time there arrived on that 
calendar the last day of school. 

Adele and her friends passed with high 


ON A RANCH 


85 


marks, and when she parted from them at 
the cross-roads, she fairly danced home, 
humming snatches of a happy song. Skip- 
ping into the house, she called, as she al- 
ways did, “ Mumsie, where are you? ” But 
this time there was no reply. 

For a moment she looked puzzled; then 
she remembered something, and, catching 
her white Persian cat from the sunny 
cushion where he was comfortably slumber- 
ing, she exclaimed rebukingly, “ Muffle 
Doring, how can you spend your time sleep- 
ing in that lazy way, when something so 
very exciting is about to happen? Don’t 
you know that your mistress is going ’way 
to Arizona to stay just ever so long, and that 
Mother Doring has gone to the city this very 
day to buy a new trunk? Just think of that, 
Cuddle-Cat ! Your mistress is going to have 
a big trunk all her very own, with her name 
on it — something she never had before, 
though, to be sure, she never needed one, 
this being her very first journey. There 
now, isn’t that exciting? ” 


86 


ADELE DOPING 


The Persian cat evidently did not think 
so, for, after having opened wondering pink 
eyes for one moment, he lazily closed them 
again and went to sleep in Della’s arms. 
That lassie snuggled him close and then re- 
placed him on his sunny cushion. 

“ I’ll hunt up Kate,” she said to herself. 
“ There I shall surely find more sympathy.” 

“ Katie,” she called, as she skipped toward 
the kitchen. A tearful voice replied, and, to 
her surprise, Adele saw the faithful servant, 
who had lived with them for so long that she 
seemed like one of the family, sitting by the 
kitchen table paring potatoes with telltale 
eyes, red and swollen. 

“ Why, Kate,” Adele exclaimed in amaze- 
ment, for never before had she seen the Irish 
woman in tears. “What has happened?” 

“ Oh, Little Colleen ! ” Kate sobbed afresh. 
“ When I think of the wild Indians that may 
be afther scalpin’ ye and me little boy, Jack, 
’way out there in that dreadful desert coun- 
thry, how kin I help but be afther cryin’? ” 

Adele could hardly keep from laugh- 


ON A RANCH 


87 


ing, for it really was funny, and yet she 
dearly loved Kate, and so she said, “ Why, 
Katie, you’ve been reading a book about the 
West as it used to be. I saw it here in the 
kitchen yesterday, but I thought that it be- 
longed to Jack. I don’t wonder that you 
were frightened, but Arizona is just as law- 
abiding novo as our very own State ; I heard 
Giant Daddy say so last night. And the 
few Indians that are left are peaceful 
traders. They don’t go on the war-path as 
they did years ago.” 

Kate, much relieved, wiped her eyes and 
then drew a paper-covered book from be- 
neath her apron. It was open at a picture 
which might well have struck terror into the 
heart of the bravest, for a dozen wild In- 
dians were leaping around a fire, and one of 
them, with lifted tomahawk, was about to 
scalp a boy, who, with a little stretch of the 
imagination, might be said to resemble J ack. 

Rising and smiling through her tears, 
Kate said rather wistfully, “I’m afther 
wantin’ ye and Jackie to have a foine toime, 


88 


ADELE DORING 


Colleen, but I don’t want nuthin’ to happen 
to ye. I couldn’t be afther lovin’ young uns 
of me own more than I do the two of ye.” 

“ I know it, Kate,” Adele said tenderly, 
“ and we love you, too ; you have always 
been so kind to us, even when we teased and 
bothered you. We’ll write you a long letter 
just as soon as we get to the ranch. Oh, 
there’s the door-bell ! ” she added. 

“ Company, like as not,” Kate said dole- 
fully. “And me not fit to open the door.” 

“ I’ll open it, Katie,” Adele declared 
gayly. “ Door-bells are real exciting, aren’t 
they? One never can tell just what one is 
going to find there.” 

This time Adele found something interest- 
ing awaiting her. Can you think what it 
was? 


CHAPTER THIRTEEN 


JOYOUS PREPARATIONS 

When Adele danced to the front door she 
wondered whom she would find there. Per- 
haps her mother had returned from the city, 
or it might be just a caller. But when the 
door was swung open, there stood a big 
pleasant-faced man in overalls, who carried 
a large trunk on his shoulder. 

“ Good evening, ma’am,” he said. “ Does 
Della Doring live here? ” 

“Oh, yes, indeed,” Adele exclaimed joy- 
fully. “And this is my new trunk? Please 
put ft right here in the library,” she added, 
as she led the way. Then, when the man 
was gone, she called, “ Katie, oh, Katie, do 
come quick and see my be-au-ti-ful new 
trunk.” And when Kate appeared, the 

happy girl added : “ Isn’t it nice and shiny? 

89 


90 


ADELE DORING 


I do hope it won’t get all scratched up, but 
I suppose it will. Baggagemen don’t care 
much, even if it is the very first trunk a per- 
son ever had. Oh, goody! Here come the 
girls.” 

Kate, not wishing her red eyes to be seen, 
beat a hasty retreat kitchenward, while 
Adele danced to the front door, and, throw- 
ing it wide open, she called gayly, “ This 
way, young ladies, if you wish to see some- 
thing new and handsome.” 

“ Oh, Della,” Betty Burd cried, clapping 
her hands gleefully. “ If it isn’t a trunk ! 
Doesn’t it make you feel grown-upish to own 
one all by yourself? ” 

“And here are your initials on this end of 
it,” Peggy Pierce declared. 

“ Isn’t it a big one? ” Bertha said admir- 
ingly. 

“Yes, it is pretty large,” Adele agreed; 
“but, you see, Mumsie thought that since 
we don’t need very many clothes out on the 
desert, perhaps Jack and I might use the 
same trunk.” 


ON A RANCH 


91 


“ I wish you could open it and see what 
the inside looks like,” Betty Burd said. 

“ Maybe the key is in that little envelope 
tied to the handle,” Doris Drexel suggested. 

It was, so Adele fitted it in the lock, and, 
lifting the cover, she gave a cry of delight. 

“ Why, I declare, if there isn’t something 
in the hat-box part,” she said. “ Oh, girls, 
do look ! It’s a wide-brimmed felt hat, with 
a red scarf around it, like the one Eva wore 
when she had her picture taken.” 

“ Try it on, Della, and let’s see how be- 
coming it is,” Rosamond Wright had just 
exclaimed, when they heard the front door 
close, and in walked Bob Angel and Jack 
Doring. 

“ Oh, Jackie ! ” Adele cried, as she danced 
over to her brother. “ If you ever had any 
doubts about our really, truly going, here is 
proof positive that we are. See, Mumsie has 
bought me a cowgirl hat.” 

“ Maybe there’s a suit to match in the un- 
der part,” Doris Drexel suggested. The 
upper trays were lifted out, and underneath 


92 


ADELE DORING 


lay two large bundles, one marked with 
Adele’s name and the other with Jack’s. 

Amidst exclamations of admiration, the 
two bundles were opened and the khaki suits 
spread out. 

“ Oh-h ! ” Betty Burd sighed wistfully. 
“ I do wish the days of magic would return.” 

“Why, Little One,” Gertrude Willis in- 
quired, “ what would you ask for? ” 

“A great big airplane,” the youngest girl 
replied, “ that could carry every one of us 
out to the desert with Adele and Jack.” 

“ Well, I surely do wish that you all could 
go with us,” Della exclaimed earnestly. 

“Although the days of magicians are sup- 
posed to be over,” Jack declared, “ the 
strangest things do happen sometimes, so 
keep hoping, Betty.” 

Such hustle and bustle as went on in the 
Doring home during the week following. 
The big new trunk stood open in the sunny 
sewing-room up-stairs, and Adele was re- 
ceiving her first lesson in packing. 


ON A RANCH 


93 


“ It really is quite an art to know how to 
put things in so that they will be snug and 
not shake around/’ her mother told her; 
“ and you know, Della, when you return you 
will not have me to help you.” 

“ Oh, Mumsie darling,” Adele exclaimed, 
as she dropped an armful of clothes on a 
chair and turned to give her mother a bear- 
hug, “ the going away is ever so exciting, but 
the coming back will be even more wonder- 
ful, for, after you and I have been apart for 
three long months, won’t we be glad to see 
each other though, and what hosts and hosts 
of things we will have to talk about.” 

For a moment the mother held her daugh- 
ter close. This would be the very first time 
that these two had ever been parted, even 
for a day, and three months seemed so long. 

“ Della,” she said tenderly, “ promise me 
not to be reckless. Remember that you are 
the only little girl that I have. Sometimes 
you act so impulsively that you do not take 
time to think of what might happen.” 

“I know it, Mumsie,” Adele confessed, 


94 


ADELE DORING 


“ but Eva is different, and then Brother 
Jack will be along, and he will take good 
care of me.” 

“ I am sure that he will,” the mother said 
cheerfully, and the packing lesson was re- 
sumed. 

Jack’s merry whistle in the lower hall was 
soon heard, and Della called, “ Buddie, bring 
me the things you want packed.” A mo- 
ment later that tall boy appeared in the 
doorway with an armful of clothes and two 
tennis-rackets. 

“Why, Jonathan Doring,” Adele ex- 
claimed in amazement. “Who ever heard 
of anybody’s playing tennis out on the 
desert? You never did, I am sure of that.” 

“Well, then, I’ll start something new,” 
Jack declared. “ I’ve simply got to keep in 
trim for the tennis tournament at South 
High next fall.” 

“ There’ll be plenty of room in the trunk 
for the net,” Mrs. Doring said; “and I’m 
sure I don’t see why tennis might not be 
played in one place as well as another,” 


ON A EANCH 


95 


Tennis was the one game which Jack en- 
joyed, and at which he was willing to exert 
himself. 

After the trunk was strapped and locked, 
and the key put carefully in the little hand- 
satchel that was a present from Giant 
Father, the expressman came and carried it 
away. “ There ! ” Adele declared jubilantly. 
“Now I feel sure that we are really and 
truly going. Sometimes I have wondered 
if it might not all be a dream, and I’ve been 
afraid that I might wake up and find that it 
was. Oh, Jack, isn’t life like a story-book? 
The title of ours just now is 6 The Country 
Boy and Girl Start on a Journey All Alone, 
out into the Wide, Wide World.’ How I do 
hope that we are going to have an exciting 
adventure.” 

The very next day their exciting adven- 
tures began. 


CHAPTER FOURTEEN 


A RACE WITH THE LIMITED 

Early the next morning the Doring fam- 
ily arrived at the station to await the coming 
of the westward bound train. Giant Father 
took Jack with him to buy the tickets and 
check the trunk. 

“When you return, my boy,” he said, 
“ you will have this to do all alone, so it is 
well for you to see how it is done.” 

Jack, feeling quite important, folded the 
long tickets and carefully placed them in his 
pocketbook. 

“ Be sure that you don’t lose them,” his 
mother cautioned when they rejoined the 
waiting group. 

“ Oh, wouldn’t it be dreadful if he did ! ” 
Adele exclaimed. “ I suppose the con- 
ductors would put us right off the train, 
96 


ON A RANCH 97 

even if we were in the middle of an alkali 
desert, and we’d die of thirst or something.” 

Jack laughed as he assured his sister that 
no such dire fate awaited them. Just at 
that moment they heard a merry chorus of 
voices behind them, and half a dozen boys 
and girls surrounded the travelers. Adele’s 
arms were filled with flowers, magazines, 
and boxes of candy. 

“ Oh, Della dear,” Betty Burd whispered 
as she nestled close to her favorite, “I’ve 
nine minds to hide in the baggage car and 
go with you.” 

Adele smiled lovingly at the little girl, 
and then turned, for her friends were all 
clamoring for her attention. 

“ Send us post-cards from all along the 
road, won’t you? ” Peggy Pierce said. 

“And write us a long, long letter the mo- 
ment you arrive,” Doris Drexel added. 

Adele laughingly agreed, and then, glanc- 
ing at her wrist-watch, she exclaimed, “I 
don’t see why the other girls don’t come. 
The train will be here in three minutes, and 


98 


ADELE DORING 


I just can’t go so far away without saying 
good-by to Gertrude and Bertha and Rosa- 
mond.” 

“ I don’t understand it, either,” Jack de- 
clared. “Bob Angel told me early this 
morning that he was going to bring the girls 
over in his car, and that he would surely be 
here long before train time.” 

Adele glanced anxiously down the road, 
but not even a distant cloud of dust prom- 
ised the arrival of her missing friends. Of 
all the girls, Gertrude was the one whom she 
most loved, and she did so want to see her to 
say good-by. 

At that moment there was a shrill whistle 
around the bend that announced the coming 
of the train. Then, forgetting every one 
else, Adele clung to her mother and father, 
and tears, that she had hoped would not 
come, all unheeded rolled down her cheeks 
and fell among the flowers, but her eyes were 
shining. 

Giant Father found their section on the 
train, and when they were settled, they 


ON A RANCH 


99 


leaned out of the open window, waving a 
last farewell until they were quite out of 
sight. Then Adele looked at Jack dolefully 
as she said : “ I’m not sure that going on a 
journey is so nice after all. I just know I’ll 
be homesick for Mumsie when it gets dark. 
Oh, Buddie, I’m certainly glad I brought 
you along.” 

Then, after a thoughtful moment, she 
added, “ I do think it is so queer that Ger- 
trude did not get to the station to say 
good-by. It doesn’t seem a bit like her.” 

“ The machine must have broken down,” 
Jack declared. “I know Bob intended to 
bring them.” 

Suddenly they realized that there was 
some excitement among the other passengers. 
Every one was looking out of the windows 
toward the highway. Jack looked also, and 
what he saw was a big touring-car racing at 
top speed, trying to keep up with the flying 
limited. 

“ That driver must be mad,” a man behind 
them was saying. “ There is a dangerous 


100 


ADELE DORING 


crossing just ahead of us, and, at the speed 
at which he is going, there is almost bound 
to be a collision.” 

Adele, with wide, startled eyes, clutched 
Jack’s arm and waited. 

“ Oh, Jackie,” she whispered, “ I did wish 
that something exciting would happen, but 
I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want any- 
thing to happen at all. Do you think that it 
will? ” 

Jack looked very grave, and there was a 
terror in his heart that he did not express to 
his sister, who was frightened enough as it 
was. 

Jack believed that he had recognized the 
car. He was almost sure that he knew who 
the driver was. Too, he knew about the 
crossing, and now they were almost upon it. 
Surely that driver would slow up and let 
the train pass first, but instead the train 
seemed to be slowing and the car plunging 
ahead. What could it mean? He leaned 
out of the window and was amazed to see the 
automobile turn at the crossing. He sank 


ON A KANCH 


101 


back, hoping that at least he was mistaken 
as to whom the driver might be. He ex- 
pected every moment there would be a crash, 
but the tensity of his feeling was broken by 
the man back of him, who exclaimed, “ I 
swan! I clean forgot that they built a 
trestle over this crossing only last month. 
Probably the driver of that car knows this 
road better than we do.” 

Jack, with a sigh of relief, breathed freely 
once more, and a second later the train was 
slowing down as they entered the city of 
Dorchester. As soon as they had stopped 
in the station, Adele heard familiar voices 
back of them, and how surprised she was 
to see four of their best friends coming 
down the aisle. Springing to her feet, she 
threw her arms about the tall girl in the 
lead. 

“ Oh, Trudie ! Trudie ! ” she half sobbed. 
“ How did you get here? Were you in that 
mad car that was almost run down at the 
crossing? ” 

Gertrude held her friend close as she re- 


102 


ADELE DORING 


plied, “ We were in that car, Della, but we 
were not in danger.” 

Meanwhile Bob was explaining to Jack 
that a puncture had prevented his reaching 
the Sunnyside station on time. 

“That surely was pretty reckless driv- 
ing,” Jack was saying to Bob. “You had 
me scared all right. You see, I recog- 
nized the car almost from the start, but I 
didn’t tell Sis, and I’m glad now that I 
didn’t.” 

“ That’s a fine bit of road,” Bob declared 
with enthusiasm. “If the highway were that 
good all the way to Arizona, I do believe I 
would keep right on going.” 

“ Let’s,” Rosamond suggested. 

“ Please don’t,” Adele pleaded. “ I would 
love to have you go with us, but I’d heaps 
rather have you ride in the train. If I had 
to watch your car plunging along, all the 
way to Silver Creek, there wouldn’t be much 
left of me when we got there.” 

“ I declare, I do believe that the train is 
starting ! ” Bertha Angel exclaimed. “' We’ll 


ON A RANCH 


103 


be taken along whether we want to go or 
not, if we don’t get off pretty quick.” 

“ Good-by ! Good-by ! ” Adele called a 
moment later through the open car-window. 
“ I’m so glad that I saw you, but, Bob, do 
drive home slowly, won’t you? ” 

When the train was again under way, 
Adele sank back on the seat as she said: 
“ Well, that’s the end of Chapter One. 
What do you suppose Chapter Two will be?” 


CHAPTER FIFTEEN 


A TELEGRAM EOR JACK 

The ride toward Chicago was uneventful 
in one way, that is, no startling event oc- 
curred, but every moment was filled with 
something new and wonderful to Adele, who 
had never ridden in a sleeper, or eaten in a 
dining-car. 

Early the next morning they were at 
breakfast, and Adele, while waiting for the 
order to be brought in, sat watching the 
flying landscape through the wide, sunny 
window. 

“ Oh, Jack,” she exclaimed, with shining 
eyes, “ isn’t it all just too wonderful ! Do 
you suppose that every one is as interested 
when they first cross the country as we 
are? ” 

Jack, who was feeling very grown-up and 
104 


ON A RANCH 


105 


important as guide and protector for Ms 
young sister, smiled at her eagerness. Adele 
continued, “ Isn’t the country flat around 
here ! It ought to help one a lot with geog- 
raphy, seeing things with one’s own eyes this 
way. I suppose if Gertrude or Bertha were 
along, they would have note-hooks and jot 
things down. They are both such real stu- 
dents, it would do them much more good to 
travel than it does me, I suppose.” 

The cakes, syrup, and glasses of milk hav- 
ing arrived, silence reigned, to be broken a 
moment later by Adele’s question, “ Jackie, 
whatever shall we do if we miss Eva’s uncle 
in Chicago? It is such a big place, Daddy 
said, and we have to cross it to get the train 
for Arizona.” 

“ Don’t you worry, Sis,” Jack replied. 
“ I could pilot you safely across Chicago if 
it were necessary, but, of course, it will not 
be. ^ Mr. Dearman is sure to be there.” 

After another silence Adele leaned over 
and said very softly, “ J ack, don’t look now, 
but after a second turn around and see the 


106 


ADELE DORING 


big man who is alone at the table in the far 
end of the car. He looks exactly as though 
he had stepped off a moving-picture screen. 
I do believe he is a cattle man or a sheriff or 
something. I just know that I am going to 
love everybody and everything in this won- 
derful West.” 

Jack smiled at his sister’s enthusiasm, 
and, as they left the diner, he glanced at 
the man whom Adele had described. He 
was a big, broad-shouldered Westerner, in a 
khaki suit and leather leggins. His face 
had evidently been tanned by many a sum- 
mer’s exposure to desert sun and wind, but 
the blue-gray eyes that looked out at them 
twinkled in a way that made the young peo- 
ple feel confident that this stranger would 
be a most agreeable traveling companion if 
only they were acquainted with him. 

When they returned to their Pullman, 
they found that their berth had been made 
up and they settled themselves comfortably 
for the last hour’s run to Chicago. 

Jack bought a morning paper, but Adele 


ON A EANCH 


107 


declared that one could read a newspaper at 
home, and that when she was traveling she 
intended to keep watching, for fear she 
would miss seeing some point of interest. 
Her roving eyes soon saw the typical West- 
erner enter their car, and, to her surprise, 
he took the seat just ahead of them, and, 
opening a morning paper, began to read. 

The train was slowing down at a station 
when Adele saw a messenger boy leap upon 
the steps and a moment later appear in their 
doorway, calling, “Is John Doring aboard 
this car? ” 

“ J ohn Doring ! ” Adele exclaimed. “ Why, 
Jack, that must be you! See, a messenger 
boy is calling your name and he has a tele- 
gram. Oh, oh, what can it mean? ” 

Jack, fearing that something had hap- 
pened at home, sprang to his feet. Beckon- 
ing to the boy, he signed the book, and, tak- 
ing the yellow envelope, sank down in his 
seat, dreading to open it. However, he did 
so, and gave a sigh of relief when he had 
read the message, which assured the stranger 


108 


ADELE DORING 


in the seat ahead of them that the news had 
not been what the boy dreaded. 

“What is it, Jack?” Adele asked 
anxiously. 

“It’s a wire from Mr. Dearman, saying 
that he will be unable to meet us at Chicago, 
as he has been delayed farther West,” the 
boy replied. “ He says that we are to make 
inquiries of the men in uniform at the sta- 
tion, and that then we shall have no trouble 
in crossing the city.” 

“ Oh, Jackie ! ” Adele exclaimed dismally. 
“ Isn’t that just what I said at breakfast this 
morning, that something might happen to 
keep Mr. Dearman from meeting us. Now, 
what shall we do? ” 

“ Sis, don’t you go to worrying,” Jack re- 
plied. “ I’ll be sixteen next month, and if 
a fellow can’t pilot one girl and one trunk 
across any city at that age, he doesn’t 
amount to much.” 

“Why, Jackie, of course you can do it,” 
Adele assured him, seeing that she had 
wounded his pride. “And then, I suppose, 


ON A RANCH 


109 


all we shall have to do is to ask the con- 
ductor to stop the train at Silver Creek, 
when we reach Arizona.” 

When Adele said that, the stranger ahead 
of them turned in his seat and inquired: 
“Are you young people bound for Silver 
Creek, Arizona? ” 

“ Yes, we are,” Jack replied. “We are 
going to spend the summer on Mr. Richard 
Dearman’s cattle ranch, Bar X.” 

“Well, now, is that so?” the Westerner 
exclaimed heartily as he stood up. “I’m 
going close to that place myself, and if you 
haven’t any objections, I’ll turn my seat 
right over and we’ll be traveling companions 
from this minute on till we get to Douglas.” 

The young people surely had no objections 
to offer. Jack liked the bluff Westerner at 
once, and as for Adele, she felt safe again, 
for she had dreaded crossing the city with- 
out an experienced guide. 

“ My name is Daniel Moore,” the stranger 
continued, “ and your names I have already 
gathered to be Adele and Jack Doring. 


110 


ADELE DORING 


Ha ! ” lie exclaimed, glancing out of tlie car- 
window and noting that they were entering 
the outskirts of the city. “ We became ac- 
quainted just in the nick of time, for here we 
are in Chicago.” 

After that, all was hustle and bustle, and 
when they found themselves in the vast sta- 
tion, being pushed and shoved by hurrying 
crowds, Jack, though he never would have 
confessed it, was secretly glad that a pair of 
broad shoulders ahead were forging a way 
for them through the masses of surging 
humanity, out to the waiting transfer bus. 


CHAPTER SIXTEEN 


AN EXCITING HOLD-UP 

The ride on the transfer bus across 
Chicago was of great interest to Adele, who 
sat silently watching the skillful way in 
which the driver piloted them through 
vehicles of every description. At last, turn- 
ing to Jack, she said, “ How can people de- 
liberately choose to live in such a noisy 
place? I much prefer Sunnyside myself, 
where one can hear the robins sing.” 

Mr. Moore, their traveling companion, 
smiled down at her in his genial way, as he 
added : “And I much prefer the wide, silent 
desert. I really believe, Miss Adele, that 
you are going to like it as much as I do.” 

“ Oh, I know that I shall just love it,” the 
girl replied, and then, as the bus was draw- 
ing up to the curb, she was again absorbed 
in watching all that happened with wide- 
ill 


112 


ADELE DOPING 


eyed interest. Mr. Moore led them through 
the crowds to the waiting train, and how 
pleased they were to find that their berths 
were in the same Pullman. Adele and J ack 
had a section to themselves. Mr. Moore 
gladly agreed to sit with them, and when the 
train was speeding across country, and Chi- 
cago had been left far behind, that kindly 
Westerner told the young people about his 
life on the desert. They learned that, with 
his partners, Tom and Tim Slater, he owned 
an extensive cattle ranch ten miles south of 
Mr. Dearman’s. Adele was pleased to hear 
that Mr. Tom Slater had a daughter of about 
her own age. Eva had once mentioned that 
there was a girl neighbor whom she had 
never seen, because at that time she was 
away at boarding-school. 

He told them many interesting stories of 
life on the desert as it had been years be- 
fore, when, once a month, at the full of the 
moon, there had been an Indian raid on some 
white man’s ranch. And, too, in reply to 
Jack’s question, he told them that he had 


ON A RANCH 


113 


been personally acquainted with Black 
Jack, Arizona’s notorious though gentle- 
manly train robber. 

Adele’s eyes were wide with startled in- 
terest. 

Mr. Moore smiled down at her reassur- 
ingly as he said : “ But those days of thrill- 
ing adventure are far in the past. Here 
comes the porter with his first call for 
dinner, and I want you young people to be 
my guests.” 

The next morning early Adele and Jack 
were up and dressed, and after breakfasting 
in the diner, which was still an enjoyable 
novelty to the country girl, they returned to 
their Pullman. Mr. Moore was waiting for 
them, and, rising, he exclaimed genially, 
“ Wide awake and ready for some new ad- 
venture, I see! What do you suppose we 
acquired in the night? ” 

“We never could guess, Mr. Moore,” 
Adele replied, “ so please do tell us.” 

“ I’ll do better than that,” the Westerner 


114 : 


ADELE DORING 


exclaimed. “ 111 show you, if you will fol- 
low me.” 

Eagerly the boy and girl followed their 
guide through one car and then another. 
As they swung around a curve, Adele 
clutched Jack’s arm. “ I never dreamed we 
were on such a long train,” she exclaimed. 

“ I think it grew longer in the night,” 
Jack replied. 

“ Here we are,” Mr. Moore announced, as 
he opened the door of the last car, which was 
unoccupied at that early hour. 

“ Oh ! oh ! ” Adele exclaimed in delight. 
“ Isn’t this pleasant ! It’s almost all glass, 
and what cosy, comfortable chairs. And 
look ! Here is a writing-desk. If the train 
didn’t shake so, I would love to write a letter 
to the Sunnyside girls.” 

“ You’ll have time enough for that later, 
for the conductor tells me that he has re- 
ceived orders to sidetrack this afternoon and 
permit a special to pass. But come, let us 
sit outside on the observation platform,” Mr. 
Moore said, leading the way. “ It is 


ON A RANCH 


115 


especially pleasant out here in the morn- 
ing.” 

“ Oh, Jackie, isn’t this luxurious ! ” Adele 
remarked, as they were seated in the com- 
fortable wicker chairs. “ I never dreamed 
that traveling was so interesting.” 

Thus pleasantly the morning passed, and 
at noon Adele was surprised to learn that 
they had lost their diner and that they were 
to have lunch at a wayside station. Seated 
on a stool at a circular lunch-counter, on 
which at intervals were plates of pie and 
doughnuts and ham sandwiches, while neat- 
looking maids were deftly and swiftly serv- 
ing steaming coffee in thick cups, Adele 
watched with interest all that went on. 

Early in the afternoon they reached the 
place where they were to wait on a siding for 
the special to pass, and Adele skipped to the 
writing-desk and began her letter. 

“ Somewhere in Colorado . 

“ My dearly beloved Sunny Six : 

“ So much has happened since I saw 
you last that I hardly know where to begin. 


116 


ADELE DORING 


Well, in the first place, Eva’s Uncle Dick 
was unable to meet us in Chicago, and we 
were wondering what we would better do, 
when we happened to make the acquaintance 
of such a nice man, Mr. Moore, who lives at 
Silver Creek, on a neighboring ranch. He 
said Mr. Dearman was a particular friend 
of his, and that he would gladly be our 
escort. We like him so much, and he tells 
us about the points of interest. When we 
were crossing the flat prairies and there was 
nothing much to look at, Mr. Moore told us 
tales of his early life in Arizona, when there 
were Indian raids and hold-ups. Those were 
certainly exciting days ! Jack kept wishing 
that he and Bob had been in the West at 
that time, but I said I was thankful that the 
days of hold-ups were over. 

“ Well, a little while ago we were passing 
through a narrow mountain canyon. The 
bare stone walls on both sides of us rose so 
sheer and high that we could not see the tops 
of them from the car-window. 

“ i This used to be a favorite place for 
hold-ups,’ Mr. Moore had just said, when our 
train came to a stop so suddenly that I was 
almost thrown from my seat. Mr. Moore 
lifted the window and looked out. 

“ 1 What is it? ’ I asked eagerly. 4 A 
hold-up? ’ 

“ I asked that only in fun, and imagine 
my surprise when Mr. Moore replied, ‘ You 


ON A EANCH 


117 


are right, Adele ; that is just what it is. A 
masked horseman is holding up the en- 
gineer, and two others are boarding the 
train. Quick, put your bags under the 
seat ! ’ 

“ But when one of the masked men entered 
our car, a pistol in each hand, he said noth- 
ing about money, but his keen black eyes 
were peering through the holes in his mask 
as though he was searching for some one. 
There was no one ahead of us, and suddenly 
his gaze settled on me. Striding forward, 
he asked, ‘Are you Coraletta, the daughter 
of a cattle king? ’ 

“‘No! No ! 7 I replied in terror, as I 
clung to Mr. Moore’s arm, ‘ I am only Adele 
Doring.’ 

“ ‘Aha ! I see her now ! ’ the masked man 
muttered, and turning, I saw him approach a 
beautiful Spanish girl, who had been cower- 
ing down in her seat as though she had been 
trying to hide. Lifting her, he carried her 
out of the car, and I saw him leap with her 
to his saddle and gallop away. The other 
two masked horsemen followed, firing shots 
into the air. Then suddenly I realized that 
our train was again under way. 

“ ‘ Oh, Mr. Moore ! ’ I cried, ‘ why did you 
and Jack let such a dreadful man carry off 
that beautiful girl? ’ 

“‘Della,’ Jack exclaimed in surprise, 
‘ didn’t you know that it was only moving 


118 


ADELE DORING 


pictures? Didn’t you see tlie camera out in 
the vestibule? It was Bill Hart and his 
company ! ’ 

“ Girls, wasn’t that a joke on me? Often, 
when we seven have been down to the Little 
Theater, I have said what fun it would be to 
take part in a moving picture, and there I 
was in one and didn’t even know it. Mr. 
Moore said that I did my part very well in- 
deed, for I surely looked scared enough, if 
that was what they wanted. 

“ I have ever and ever so much to tell you, 
but the train has started again, and it 
shakes my pen so that my writing won’t be 
readable. One day more and we shall reach 
Arizona and dear Eva. I’ll write you a 
long, long letter just as soon as I am settled. 

“ Love to all, from 

“Adele. 

“ P. S. — Bob ! Please do try to think up 
some way to bring all of the girls out to the 
desert while Jack and I are there. 

“A. D.” 


CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 


WAITING FOB THE TRAIN 

While Adele and Jack were speeding 
westward on the Sunset Limited, Eva and 
Amanda on Bar X Ranch eagerly awaited 
their coming. Mr. Dearman, who had been 
unable to make the eastern trip as he had 
planned, was feeling rather anxious about 
the young travelers. What if Adele and 
Jack had been lost in Chicago? He had 
been very sure that they would telegraph a 
reply to his message, but none had come. 

He was sitting on the front veranda of the 
ranch house, smoking his after-breakfast 
cigar and thinking of these things, when 
Eva and Amanda appeared in the doorway. 
Dancing over to her uncle, Eva kissed him 
lightly on the forehead, as she exclaimed 
eagerly, “ Oh, Uncle Dick! Just think of 
it! Adele Doring is really, truly coming 
119 


120 


ADELE DOPING 


to-day. I’m so happy, so happy! But it 
does seem as though I never can wait for 
that slow train to come in. Here it is only 
nine in the morning and the train isn’t due 
at Silver Creek until five this afternoon. 
You told Adele in that last telegram to be 
sure to have the conductor stop at Silver 
Creek, didn’t you? ” 

Her uncle smiled at her eagerness as he 
replied, “ Yes, Eva mine. I gave Adele and 
Jack full directions in the telegram that I 
sent yesterday, to be given to them at El 
Paso. The train waits there for about an 
hour, and they will have time to send me a 
return wire. I am rather expecting to see 
a horseman appear at any moment* bringing 
us a telegram.” 

Eva shaded her eyes and looked up the 
mesa trail, but all she could see was the 
gleaming white sand, with here and there a 
mesquite bush or a weird-shaped cactus, 
patches of wiry grass, and bits of flaming 
color, where desert flowers blossomed. 

“ There is no one in sight,” she declared, 


ON A RANCH 


121 


as she turned back. Then, catching her 
friend by the hand, she said, “ Let’s gather 
a fresh bouquet of those scarlet flowers, 
Mandy. If we keep busy, the time will pass 
more quickly.” 

An hour later they again went out on the 
veranda to look for a possible messenger. 
Mr. Dearman had gone down to the corral. 

Suddenly Eva seized her friend’s arm, 
as she exclaimed, “Look, Mandy! Do 
you see a sand-cloud appearing on the 
mesa? ” 

“Yes, I do,” the other replied; “but I 
think that it is merely a whirlwind. You 
know there is one or more every day now.” 

“ That’s right,” Eva agreed ; “ but this 
cloud of sand doesn’t whirl, and it is coming 
rapidly this way. Oh, Mandy, I can see a 
dark object in it now. Surely it is a horse- 
man, and he is galloping at top speed.” 
Then, running toward the corral where Mr. 
Dearman was busily engaged, Eva shouted, 
“ Uncle Dick ! Come quick ! A horseman is 
coming and he may have that telegram.” 


122 


ADELE DOBING 


Mr. Dearman, eager for news from Adele 
and Jack, lurried to the ranch house 
and arrived there just as Danny Wells, 
the station agent’s son, leaped from his 
horse. 

“ Howdy,” the boy said, as he produced 
a yellow envelope. “ Pa sent me over with 
this.” 

Mr. Dearman, tearing open the envelope, 
read aloud: “ Adele and Jack are on the 
Sunset Limited. Will arrive at Silver Creek 
at 5 p. m.” 

A startled expression appeared in the 
boy’s eyes. 

“ What’s that, Mr. Dearman? ” he inter- 
rupted. “Was you expecting folks on the 
Limited? ” 

“ Yes ! Yes ! ” Mr. Dearman replied, 
troubled by the boy’s expression. “Why, 
Danny, what is it? What has happened? ” 

“Well, they won’t get here at five,” the 
boy replied. “ Pa just had a wire from El 
Paso. The Sunset Limited has been wrecked 
somehow. We don’t know much about it 


ON A RANCH 


123 


yet. There were some folks hurt, but they 
didn't say who. Anyhow none of them pas- 
sengers will get here to-night." 

“Oh, Uncle Dick," Eva sobbed as she 
flung her arms about Mr. Dearman's neck. 
“ My darling Adele was on that train. If 
she was hurt, what shall we do? " 

Before her uncle could say a word of hope 
or comfort, Danny Wells exclaimed ex- 
citedly as he pointed toward the sky : “ Mr. 
Dearman, do look there. Did you ever see 
such a big bird? " 

Mr. Dearman, shading his eyes, looked up, 
and far away, in the cloudless and gleaming 
blue, he beheld something that the desert boy 
had not seen before — an airplane. 

“ That must be the Curtiss biplane that 
the Thirteenth Regiment has been expecting 
to have sent to them at Douglas ; but if it is, 
I cannot understand why it is bearing this 
way, instead of to the south." 

At tremendous speed the aircraft was ap- 
proaching and descending, until its entire 
outline could be distinctly seen, and the 


124 


ADELE DORING 


humming noise that it made became momen- 
tarily louder. 

“ There are several people abroad the 
plane, I should say,” Mr. Dearman con- 
tinued. Then he added, “ There must be 
something wrong with the machinery, for it 
certainly looks as though it was about to 
descend near here.” 

The four, gazing in wonder and amaze- 
ment, saw the machine suddenly dip and 
alight on a hard, smooth stretch of sand 
near the corral. 

Thither the four watchers ran, and 
reached the place just as the craft came to 
a standstill. 

With a cry of astonishment and joy, Eva 
ran forward with arms outstretched. 
“ Adele ! Adele ! ” she laughed and sobbed 
as she embraced the girl, who had just been 
lifted from the plane. 

“ Well, of all strange things! Daniel 
Moore, how do you happen to be in an air- 
craft with Jack and Adele? But don’t ex- 
plain here ! ” Mr. Dearman continued. “ I 



Eva ran forward with arms outstretched. — Page 124 

























































































ON A RANCH 


125 


know you are all as hungry as Russian 
wolves in midwinter. Come right up to the 
house and Senora Gabriella will have dinner 
ready in no time.” 

“ I really cannot stop, thank you, Mr. 
Dearman,” the aviator, Captain Nelson, de- 
clared. “ I am due even now at the camp 
over at Douglas.” 

“ If you desire a passenger, Captain,” Mr. 
Moore said, “ I will ride along with you and 
look after our baggage. Have no fear for 
your trunk, Miss Adele. I will have it sent 
out with mine in a day or two.” 

“ Thank you, Mr. Moore,” Adele replied. 
And then, turning to the young aviator, she 
exclaimed, “ Oh, Captain Nelson, I shall 
never, never forget my first ride in the air. 
I have often wondered how it would feel to 
be a bird, and now I know. Thank you so 
much.” 

“ I am glad that the ride gave you so 
much pleasure, Miss Adele,” the young cap- 
tain replied, with a frank, pleasant smile; 
“and if Mr. Dearman will postpone the 


126 


ADELE DOBING 


invitation to dine, I will fly over some day 
soon and accept it.” 

“ Come any time, Captain,” Mr. Dear- 
man exclaimed heartily, “and bring some 
of the boys with you. You know there is 
always a big pot of frijoles in a ranch 
kitchen, if there is nothing else.” 

The starting of the machinery drowned 
the merry good-bys, but Captain Nelson 
and Mr. Moore waved their caps as they 
soared upward. The others stood watching 
the craft until it had disappeared, and then 
Eva hugged Adele once more. 

“ Is it you, really, truly, Della? ” she ex- 
claimed. “ Everything has happened so 
strangely to-day that I am wondering if I 
am asleep or awake. Wouldn’t it be dread- 
ful if I should find it was only a dream and 
you weren’t here at all.” 

“ But it isn’t a dream,” Adele cried hap- 
pily. “ I’m really, truly here.” 

“ And so am I, Mademoiselle Eva,” Jack 
declared, “although as yet you have not 
deigned to notice me.” 


ON A RANCH 


127 


“ Oh, how dreadful of me ! ” Eva said con- 
tritely, as she held out her hand to the 
tall, good-looking boy. “Of course I am 
glad that you have come, too. Aren’t we, 
Mandy? ” she added, turning and slipping 
an arm around her adopted sister’s waist. 
She did not want Amanda to feel left out. 

“ Forward ! March ! ” Uncle Dick called, 
and the merry party proceeded from the 
corral to the ranch house. Adele gazed 
about her in delight. 

“ Oh, Eva ! ” she said. " The desert is just 
as wonderful as I knew it would be from 
your letters. I know I am going to love it.” 


CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 


NEW ACQUAINTANCES 

Adele was as delighted with the ranch 
house as Eva could wish. 

“ See ! ” the little hostess said as she 
opened a door. “ You are to room with me, 
Della, and Mandy is right next to us. Now, 
you will want to wash, I know, though I 
don’t suppose one gets very dusty traveling 
through the air.” 

“No, not unless it is star dust,” Adele 
laughingly replied. “But, truth to tell, 
Eva, I feel as though I would have to soak 
for days to be free from the alkali dust 
which covered me when we crossed the 
desert ; but I’ll be content to take off the top 
layer of it just now, for I am powerfully 
hungry.” 

A few moments later they were all out in 
128 


ON A KANCH 129 

the veranda dining-room overlooking the 
water-hole. 

“ Oh, how pretty ! ” Adele declared. 
“ J ack, did you suppose that there were such 
green places on the desert? ” 

“Yes, sister mine,” Jack said, “I have 
often read of an oasis. What have you 
named it, Eva? Pequeno Lago?” 

“Why, Jack Doring,” Adele exclaimed, 
whirling around to face her brother, 
“ I didn’t know you knew a word of 
Spanish.” 

“ Well, I don’t know many words, I shall 
have to confess,” Jack laughingly replied, 
“ but when I heard that we were to come to 
Arizona, I began studying Spanish in school. 
My pronunciation may be all wrong. Per- 
haps no one knows what I mean by Pequeno 
Lago.” 

“You say it quite correctly,” Mr. Dear- 
man declared as he placed a kindly hand 
on the boy’s shoulder. “Little Lake will 
be a good name for your duck pond, Eva,” 
he added with a smile at the tall, slim girl 


130 ADELE DORING 

who was as dear to him as an own daughter 
could be. 

“ Goody ! ” she exclaimed. “ I’ve often 
wondered what we would name our precious 
bit of water. Pequeno Lago — Little Lake. 
Now, Adele, see if you can say it.” 

Poor Adele tried, but languages were hard 
for her, and the result was so funny that 
they were all laughing gayly when two cow- 
boys appeared upon the veranda. Their 
shining faces and sleek wet hair told plainly 
of a recent immersion in a big tin basin of 
water at the kitchen door. 

“ Oh, here you are, boys ! ” Uncle Dick 
said pleasantly. “ You’re just in time to 
share the first Mexican meal with Senorita 
Adele and her brother, Jack. Jack is a 
tenderfoot now, as you were last year, 
Donald, but it’s up to you boys to toughen 
him into a leather-brown cow-puncher like 
yourselves. Adele, these young men are 
known in these parts as Donald Dare and 
Rusty Pete.” 

Jack sprang forward and gave each of the 


ON A RANCH 


131 


boys a gripping handclasp. He realized that 
Donald Dare had been brought up amid 
surroundings similar to his own, but that 
Rusty Pete was a typical cowboy. He knew 
at once that he should like them both. 

“ Everybody be seated ! ” Uncle Dick ex- 
claimed, and then, turning to the new- 
comers, he asked, “ What’s the news?” 
Then, by way of explanation, he said to 
Jack, “ Donald and Pete have been riding 
the range for several days, and this is the 
first time that I have seen them since they 
returned.” 

“Wall,” Rusty Pete replied in his slow 
drawl, “we didn’t see nuthin’ wrong. By 
heck ! ” he added suddenly, “ I dunno but 
maybe we did, though. We was in a hurry 
to git home and so we didn’t stop to look 
into it. About an hour ago, as we was rid- 
ing up the mesa trail, Donald happened to 
look over toward the sand-hill, and he says 
to me , 6 Rusty, am I a-seein’ things, or is that 
there a red flag flyin* from the top of a 
yucca? ’ I looked, and I said, ‘By heck, 


132 


ADELE DORING 


Donald, that sure is something red. Maybe 
it was blown up there by a whirlwind and 
got hooked to the yucca.’ But, the more I 
think of it, the more I conclude maybe there 
is somebody up there that’s in trouble and 
flying a red handkerchief to see if they can 
get help.” 

Mr. Dearman looked puzzled. “ It is 
queer,” he said, “ and after dinner perhaps 
we would better ride back to the sand-hills 
and investigate the matter. It surely is a 
desolate spot for any one to be stranded, 
whatever the reason.” 

Then, noting an anxious expression on the 
girls’ faces, he changed the subject and led 
Adele and Jack to talk of the wreck, which, 
after all, had been merely the derailment 
of two of the cars. Mr. Dearman was glad 
to hear that there had been no fatalities, and 
that Danny Wells had been misinformed. 

When at last the meal was over, Mr. Dear- 
man arose and suggested that the men of the 
party ride over to the sand-hills and see if 
the red flag was still flying. 


ON A KANCH 


133 


“Oh, Uncle Dick,” Eva pleaded, “can’t 
we girls go, too ? It is only noon, and surely 
there is nothing that can hurt us.” Mr. 
Dearman gave his consent, and soon they 
were all in the saddle, riding toward the 
desolate sand-hills. They were indeed 
startled by what they found there. 


CHAPTER NINETEEN 


THE MYSTERIOHS BED FLAG 

After riding across a desert trail for half 
an hour, Eva exclaimed, “ There, now we 
can see the sand-hills.” About a mile ahead 
of them were what seemed to be three hills, 
but, in reality, it was one great hill of sand 
with three undulations. On it, like senti- 
nels, stood occasional stalks of yucca. 
Nothing else grew there. Adele shuddered. 
“ I never saw such a lonesome-looking 
place,” she said. 

“ It is a lonesome place, and a dangerous 
one, too,” Mr. Dearman declared, “for at 
times there are sand-slides that bury any 
creature that is near.” 

The desolate appearance of the hills in- 
creased as the riders approached. Suddenly 

Rusty Pete drew rein as he called back over 
134 


ON A RANCH 


135 


his shoulder, “It sure is queer. A minute 
ago I saw that red flag flying plain as could 
be, but, by heck, it isn’t there now.” 

“ That is strange,” Mr. Dearman replied. 
“ It couldn’t have blown down, for there 
isn’t a breath of wind stirring.” 

“ Do you suppose there may be Indians in 
hiding, who are trying to lead us into a 
trap?” Jack inquired, almost hoping that 
it might be that, or something equally ex- 
citing. 

Mr. Dearman smiled. “ No, my boy,” he 
replied. “Years ago your surmise might 
have been correct, but the Indians living on 
the desert now are all friendly.” 

As they neared the hill, Uncle Dick drew 
rein and said, “ Girls, I want you to stay 
here. It is not safe for you to go nearer, for 
there might be a sand-slide. Jack, will you 
remain with the girls and hold our horses? ” 
Then, noting the disappointment plainly 
depicted on the boy’s face, he added, “No, 
you come with me, Jack, and Rusty Pete 
may remain with the girls.” 


136 


ADELE DOPING 


Rusty Pete, whose nineteen years had 
been spent on the desert, was not yearning 
for adventure, as was Tenderfoot Jack, and 
so he gladly consented to remain. 

Starting on foot, Mr. Dearman, Donald 
and Jack began to climb the side of the hill 
that was nearest. It was hard to get a 
foothold, for the sand was loose and they 
often slid back, while small stones rattled 
down. 

Suddenly the girls, watching almost 
breathlessly from below, saw one of them 
pick up something red. 

Mr. Dearman held out his hand for it. 
“Why, Donald,” he exclaimed in surprise, 
“ this isn’t a man’s handkerchief. It’s silk, 
—the sort a girl wears around her throat.” 

“ Well, of all strange things ! ” the cowboy 
declared. “ I know whose it is. It belongs 
to Tom Slater’s daughter. Her father gave 
it to her for a birthday present. See ! Here 
is her initial in the corner.” 

Mr. Dearman looked more puzzled than 
ever. “ But what in the world would Elsie 


ON A RANCH 


137 


Slater’s handkerchief be doing on the top of 
this desolate sand-hill? ” he inquired. 

“ I do not know,” Donald replied. “ But 
I am sure that Elsie herself is nowhere 
about, for from the top here we can plainly 
see the entire surrounding country.” 

“ It’s the queerest thing I ever heard of,” 
Rusty Pete declared, when the others, hav- 
ing descended the hill, explained to the wait- 
ing group about their find. 

“ The mystery is still as deep and dark as 
it was,” Mr. Dearman said, “but at least 
we know who owns the red silk handker- 
chief,” he added, “ for Elsie Slater showed 
it to Donald Dare only yesterday and said 
that it was one of her birthday gifts.” 

“ Oh, Uncle Dick,” Eva cried joyfully, 
“has Elsie Slater returned from school? I 
knew that Mr. Slater was expecting her 
soon, but I did not know she had arrived.” 
Then, turning to Adele, she explained : “ I 
haven’t met Elsie as yet myself. She has 
been in California all winter in some board- 
ing school, but I am just ever so eager to 


138 


ADELE DORING 


meet her. I have heard so much about her. 
The cowboys seem to just adore her ; in fact, 
so does every one on the desert.” 

“Oh, I know about her,” Adele said 
brightly, as she and Eva and Mandy rode 
slowly toward the ranch house, the men hav- 
ing ridden toward the valley pasture to look 
at the fences. 

Eva was surprised. “ Why, Adele, where 
did you hear of Elsie Slater? ” she asked. 
And then, before Adele could reply, she 
added, “ Oh, I know. I forgot that you 
traveled west with Daniel Moore, and he is 
a sort of adopted uncle of Elsie’s ; that is, he 
is a partner of her father’s. What did he 
tell you about her? ” 

“ Well,” Adele replied, “ Mr. Moore thinks 
that Elsie is a wonderful girl. It seems that 
her father had wanted a boy, and Mr. Moore 
said that Elsie seemed to feel that her dad 
was disappointed, so she is both a son and a 
daughter to him. In the house she is as 
pretty and ladylike as any girl could be, and 
no one can excel her in cooking; but when 


ON A RANCH 


139 


she has on her cowgirl togs and is astride 
her horse, she can throw a rope or drive a 
bunch of cattle as well as a boy. Mr. Moore 
said she is the pride and joy of her father’s 
heart.” 

“ I am so glad that she has come home for 
the summer,” Eva said. “You see, the 
Slaters are our nearest neighbors.” 

Adele, who was used to a neighbor living 
so near that they could converse without 
leaving their respective doorsteps, looked 
over the wide, lonely desert in amaze- 
ment. 

“ Why, Eva,” she said, “ how can they be 
neighbors? I don’t see a house anywhere in 
sight.” 

Eva laughed merrily. “ Oh, Double Bar 
Ranch isn’t in sight from here,” she replied. 
“ In fact, the house is hidden by the Bald 
Mountains. It is about eleven miles to the 
south, and only one mile from the Mexican 
border.” 

“ How I do hope we shall meet this won- 
derful desert girl soon,” Adele said. “ Then, 


140 


ADELE DORING 


perhaps, she can explain for us the mystery 
of the red silk handkerchief.” 

That mystery was to be solved much 
sooner than they dreamed. 


CHAPTER TWENTY 


THE MYSTERY SOLVED 

That night, after the lights had been 
turned out, Adele remained awake for a long 
time, looking out of the open window near 
her bed. The deep blue sky was studded 
with jewel-like stars that seemed brighter 
and nearer than they had been in the East. 
After a time Eva whispered, “Aren’t you 
asleep yet, Adele? ” 

“ No,” the other replied. “ I think it is 
the silence that keeps me awake. I almost 
wish there was a clock in the room. It 
seems uncanny to have it so still.” 

“ You’ll get used to it and like it after a 
time,” Eva said. 

At last, weary from the varied excite- 
ments of the day, Adele fell asleep, to be 

awakened suddenly by a low, dismal howl, 
141 


142 


ADELE DORING 


that startled her. She sat up in bed and 
asked fearfully, “Eva, what was that? It 
sounded like a wolf.” 

“ Oh, Adele,” her friend said contritely, 
“ I forgot to tell you about coyotes. I re- 
member how they frightened me the first 
night I was on the desert, but now I rather 
like their mournful cry. They are wolf -like, 
but they are cowards and seldom come near 
the house. They do not attack people, so 
you need have no fear of them,” 

Thus reassured, Adele sank into a restful 
slumber and did not again awaken until 
she heard the quacking of the ducks on 
“Pequeno Lago,” Little Lake. When she 
opened her eyes, she found that Eva was up 
and dressing, and a happy song drift- 
ing in from the room adjoining assured her 
that Mandy was up also. 

“ Top o’ the morning to you both,” Adele 
called, as she sprang out of bed. “ Oh, isn’t 
it shiny and nice, and aren’t we going to 
have a be-au-ti-ful time to-day ! ” 

“ Of course we are,” Eva said. “ Mandy 


ON A RANCH 


143 


and I have the happiest times every day. 
Don’t we, sister dear? ” 

“ Indeed we do,” Mandy replied, as, with 
completed toilet, she appeared in the con- 
necting doorway. Eva tenderly kissed her 
adopted sister. Not for one minute did she 
want her to feel that she was being left out, 
now that Adele had come. 

Soon after, arm in arm, they sauntered to 
the veranda dining-room, to find that Mr. 
Dearman and the boys had breakfasted 
hours before and had gone to the valley pas- 
ture to start the day’s work. 

After the three girls had breakfasted, they 
entered the big living-room, and Eva danced 
over to a closet and brought forth two 
brooms and several dusters, as she ex- 
claimed, “ Mandy and I tidy up every morn- 
ing. Senora Gabriella and Bonita have so 
much to do with the laundry and cook- 
ing and dish-washing that we are glad to 
do the tidying and bed-making for our 
share.” 

“ * Redding up,’ as old Mrs. Quigly used 


144 


ADELE DOBING 


to say,” Mandy exclaimed. Then, taking 
one of the brooms, she started to sweep off 
the wide verandas. 

Half an hour later Adele and Eva were 
making a bed when Mandy rushed in and 
excitedly called out, “ Somebody’s coming 
on horseback, and it looks like a girl. What 
if it should be that Elsie Slater? ” 

“ Oh, how I do hope it is,” Eva said, as 
she darted about, putting away the brooms 
and dusters and hastily peering in a mirror, 
to be sure that her hair was tidy. 

Then the three went out on the front 
porch just as a slim, pretty girl in a khaki 
riding-habit galloped up on a graceful brown 
horse. Dismounting, she stepped forward 
with outstretched hand as she exclaimed: 
“ I am Elsie Slater from Double Bar Ranch. 
When Uncle Tim told me last night that 
there were two girls about my own age on 
Bax X, I could hardly wait until morning 
dawned to come and call on you. I’ve been 
away at boarding-school this winter, where 
there were a hundred and twenty girls of all 


ON A RANCH 


145 


ages, and I just expected to be ever so lone- 
some when I got back to the desert, where 
there were no girls at all. So yon can easily 
guess how glad I was to hear that there were 
two, but Uncle Tim was wrong, for there are 
three of you, I see.” 

Elsie at last stopped for breath, and Eva 
exclaimed, “ Oh, Miss Slater, I’ve been so 
eager to have you come home. I am Eva, 
Mr. Dear man’s niece. You know my Uncle 
Dick, I am sure. And this is Amanda 
Brown, my adopted sister ; we both live here. 
And this young lady is Adele Doring, who 
has come from the far East to spend the 
summer. Now let us turn your horse into 
the corral and then we can have a nice 
visit. You have come to stay all day, 
haven’t you? ” 

“ If you want me that long,” Elsie replied 
happily. 

Half an hour later the four girls returned 
from the corral, whither they had taken the 
horse, and they were chatting like old 
friends. Suddenly Adele thought of some- 


146 


ADELE DORING 


thing. “ Miss Elsie,” she exclaimed, “ have 
you lost a red silk handkerchief? ” 

Elsie’s eyes stared in astonishment. 
“ But how did you know that I had lost it? ” 
she inquired in amazement. 

“ Donald Dare found it on the top of the 
sand-hills,” Eva explained. “ He said that 
you had shown it to him the day before, 
when he and Rusty Pete were out riding the 
range.” 

"Well, of all strange things,” Elsie de- 
clared. “ Yesterday morning, when your 
uncle’s two cowboys were leaving our ranch, 
I stood in front of the house, waving to them, 
and suddenly one of those gusty whirlwinds 
came along and snatched that red silk hand- 
kerchief right out of my hand and whirled it 
away across the desert. I was sorry to lose 
it, and I certainly never expected to see it 
again.” 

“ So the mystery is explained,” Eva said. 
Then, as they had reached the ranch house, 
she added, “ It’s getting so warm, let us go 
indoors and make some lemonade.” They 


ON A RANCH 


147 

found the kitchen deserted, for Senora 
Gabriella and Bonita, having left it in per- 
fect order, had gone down to their own little 
adobe house near the creek. 

While the girls were rolling the lemons, 
Mandy said, “ Della, what do you think of 
Donald Dare? Isn’t he the handsomest boy 
that you ever saw? ” 

“He is indeed good-looking,” Adele re- 
plied, “ and, oh, Eva, weren’t you delighted 
when you heard that he was Miss Grackle’s 
nephew?” Then, before Eva could reply, 
Adele was saying, “I like Rusty Pete, 
too. He has such a clear, honest expres- 
sion.” 

“ Uncle thinks very highly of him,” Eva 
said. 

“ Rusty hasn’t had a chance to be edu- 
cated, the way the other boys have,” Mandy 
said earnestly, “ but I have often talked with 
him, and his ideas are just as high and fine 
as Jack’s or Donald’s. You know I feel so 
grateful to Rusty Pete, Adele, because he 
saved my life.” 


148 ADELE DORING ' 

And so, visiting, the girls prepared the 
lemonade. 

Meanwhile Jack was being initiated into 
the cowboy life. It seemed to this Eastern 
lad, as he rode astride a lively little cow pony 
and breathed the fresh morning air, that 
now, for the very first time in his fifteen 
years, he was really living. If his Giant 
Father could have seen the boy then, alert in 
every muscle, he would hardly have recog- 
nized him as his son. At home he was 
teased because he was unwilling to do any- 
thing that required effort. 

Donald Dare and Jack, having ridden 
ahead of the others, were alone for a time 
in the lower pasture, where many young 
steers roamed about, restlessly chafing at the 
unusual confinement. They were soon to be 
driven to the corral, and from there, on the 
following day, they would be taken to Silver 
Creek Junction, to be shipped East. “ Say, 
Donald,” Jack began, u while we are waiting 
for the others to come, couldn’t you give me 


ON A RANCH 


149 


a lesson in roping? Isn’t there a stump or 
something in the pasture that I could prac- 
tise on? ” 

“ Stump nothing ! ” Donald replied. “ You 
might become an expert at roping a stump, 
but that would never help you to rope a 
lively steer. Here comes a young one now,” 
he added. “ You might practise on him, 
but don’t use that new rope of yours. It’s 
too stiff and hard. An old rope is better. 
Here, take this soft one of mine.” 

For the next half hour Jack practised 
throwing the noose, and at the end of that 
time he decided that it was not as easy as it 
looked, for his rope went wild each time, 
and the young steer, kicking up his heels, 
seemed to be laughing at him. 

“ Do you want to give up? ” Donald asked. 

“ No sir-ee, not I,” Jack replied ; and then, 
gathering in his rope again, he took careful 
aim, and, to his own great surprise, he 
landed his steer. How he wished Bob Angel 
might see him then. 

“ Bravo!” he heard a merry voice call 


150 


ADELE DORING 


from behind, and turning, he saw Mr. Dear- 
man and Pete riding in at the gate. 

A busy hour followed, and the twenty 
young steers that had been cut out were 
driven to the corral. Then, unexpectedly, 
something happened that quite covered 
Tenderfoot Jack with glory. 


CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE 

JACK DORING : COWBOY ! 

The four girls, having gone back to the 
ranch house and made lemonade, searched 
about the kitchen for the hiding-place of a 
certain delicious little cookie, of which 
Senora Gabriella always had a bountiful 
supply. This found, a plate was heaped up 
and they all went out on the side of the 
veranda nearest the little lake to enjoy their 
repast. 

When the last drop and the last crumb 
had disappeared, Eva said, “ Hark ! What’s 
all the commotion down near the corral? ” 

“Your Uncle Dick has been bunching 
some young steers to sell, I guess,” Elsie 
Slater remarked. 

“Oh, how I’d love to see Jack play- 
ing cowboy,” Adele exclaimed gleefully. 

151 


152 


ADELE DORING 


“ Couldn’t we run down to tlie corral and 
watch, them? ” 

“ Yes, and let’s take some lemonade,” Eva 
added. 

The girls were nearing the heavily fenced 
enclosure just as the last young steer was 
being driven in. Standing in a row, they* 
leaned on the top rail and watched what 
was happening. 

“ Jack, fasten the gate now,” Mr. Dear- 
man was calling; “and look out for that 
steer right next to you. He’s acting wild.” 

Even as Mr. Dearman spoke, Tenderfoot 
Jack heard a snort back of him and felt hot 
breath on his neck. He leaped to one side 
just as the young steer made a lunge. The 
gate, not yet fastened, crashed open under 
the creature’s weight and away he ran. Mr. 
Dearman leaped to the gate and fastened it, 
fearing a stampede, for several of the young 
steers near by were pawing the ground and 
bellowing. The four girls fairly held their 
breath. What would happen next? 

The cowboys rode among the cattle, speak- 


ON A EANCH 


153 


in g quietly, and soon some went to tlie hay- 
stack to feed, others to the water-trough at 
the foot of the great windmill, and the 
danger was over. 

“ Well,” Elsie Slater exclaimed, “ if those 
steers had known their power, they could 
have crashed down the fences and been free 
for a short time at least.” 

Meanwhile the one steer that had escaped 
was being pursued by the four riders. 
Donald and Pete headed it off and turned 
it back. Then the three cowmen began 
throwing their ropes. To Jack’s surprise 
the young steer managed each time to evade 
the noose. He had his own rope ready to 
throw, not intending to use it, but suddenly 
the steer made a lunge in his direction. 
Standing in his stirrups, Jack hurled his 
rope, and, to his amazement, in another sec- 
ond he had the mad animal plunging and 
snorting at the other end of it. Then for 
one moment he was in real danger, for the 
steer turned, and, with lowered head, charged 
at the horse and rider. Like a snake an- 


154 


ADELE DORING 


other rope whirled through the air and 
twined around the young steer’s front legs, 
bringing him to the ground with a crash. 

When at last the animal was securely 
fastened in a small enclosure, Donald Dare 
rode up to Jack, and, holding out his hand, 
he cried admiringly, “ Tenderfoot no 
longer! You’re the real article, all right. 
You roped that wild steer as if you’d been a 
cow-puncher all your life.” 

Jack laughed. “ Thanks,” he replied. 
“ But if it hadn’t been for you, throwing the 
animal just when you did, what would have 
happened to me? ” 

“ You are right, my boy,” Mr. Dearman 
said as he rode up. “ You did good roping, 
all right, but Donald Dare certainly saved 
your life.” 

Then, for the first time, the men saw the 
girls coming around the corral, Eva and 
Amanda carrying a pail between them. 

Adele’s heart had almost stopped beating 
when she had seen her brother in danger, 
but now that it was all over she and the 


ON A RANCH 


155 


other girls wisely decided to say nothing 
about it at that time. 

“ Lemonade here ! ” Eva shouted gayly in 
a vender’s tone of voice. “ Who would like 
a drink of lemonade? ” 

“ We all would, I am sure of that,” Mr. 
Dearman declared, and then the pail went 
the rounds, returning to the girls quite 
empty. 

“ There’s an auto coming over the mesa,” 
Jack announced. “ Who do you suppose is 
in it? ” 

A cloud of dust confirmed Jack’s an- 
nouncement, and a moment later they 
plainly saw that it was a truck from town. 
Daniel Moore was on the seat with the 
driver, and behind him were two trunks. 

“And they weren’t smashed nor even 
scratched, for that matter,” Mr. Moore de- 
clared when the greetings were over. 

“ I’m glad to hear it,” J ack said with a 
laugh. “That is Adele’s first trunk, and 
she is as choice of it as though it were a 
gold nugget.” 


156 


ADELE DORING 


“ Did you bring a party dress?” Eva 
asked a few moments later, when Elsie, 
Amanda, and Eva were seated on the edge 
of the bed, watching Adele open her 
trunk. 

“ Yes,” that maiden replied, “ I did, but, 
of course, I won’t have any use for it, be- 
cause how could one have a party here on 
the desert? ” 

Eva and Amanda smiled at each other in 
a manner that would have aroused Adele’s 
suspicions had she seen it, but she did not, 
for she was bending over the open trunk. 

Elsie, not being in the secret, exclaimed : 
“A party? Of course we could have a 

party. Why, last year ” But, catching 

Eva’s warning glance, Elsie stopped speak- 
ing, wondering why she was not to tell about 
a party that she attended last year at the 
schoolhouse. 

“Well, here’s my dress, anyway,” Adele 
announced, lifting from a tray her most 
treasured gown. It was a white lawn, with 
little rosebuds scattered all over it, while a 


ON A KANCH 


157 


pink sash tied with a big butterfly bow 
adorned the back. “ Adorable Mother gave 
it to me to wear to my birthday party the 
fifth of May,” she said. “ I brought it 
along because I didn’t quite understand how 
it is on the desert. Honestly, I didn’t sup- 
pose there was any place in our country 
where people lived so far away from neigh- 
bors. Why, if we wanted to give a party, 
there wouldn’t be any one to invite except 

coyotes and jack-rabbits and — and ” 

“ Burros,” Mandy suggested, as two of 
those little creatures at that moment brayed 
outside of the window. 

Eva had managed to whisper something 
into Elsie’s ear, and when Adele was again 
deep in her trunk, that pretty girl, with 
shining eyes, noiselessly clapped her hands, 
and with her lips silently formed the words, 
“ Oh, won’t that be fun? ” 

Adele, happening to look up a second 
later, and seeing the three beaming faces, 
caught hold of Eva and cried merrily, 
“ Girls, I feel in my bones that you have a 


158 ADELE DOBING 

secret and that you are leaving me out of 
it.” 

Eva, springing up, danced Adele around 
the room as she replied gayly, “ Your hones 
are very poor prophets, Della, if they think 
that we would leave you out of anything.” 

Luckily for the secret, Mr. Moore was just 
then heard to call: “Ho, Elsie. Are you 
going back to Double Bar this morning, or 
are you spending the day at Bar X? ” 

The four girls ran out to the veranda. 
The truck had returned to town, and Mr. 
Moore, astride a horse that he had borrowed 
from Uncle Dick, was about to start for his 
home ranch. 

“ Oh, Uncle Daniel,” Elsie cried, “ I don’t 
want to go home yet. I would like to stay 
all day.” 

“ Why don’t you stay a week, Miss 
Elsie? ” Uncle Dick suggested. 

“ Oh, goody,” Eva cried. “ How I do wish 
that you could ! Mr. Moore, don’t you think 
that Elsie might stay a week with us? ” 

“ She may stay until after the par ” 


ON A RANCH 


159 


Mr. Moore began, but be did not finish the 
sentence, for his restive horse suddenly de- 
cided that it had been standing long enough 
and started away at a lively pace. 

“ That is the hardest secret to keep that 
I ever had,” Eva confided to Mandy, when 
they were alone. “ If Mr. Moore’s horse 
hadn’t started away just when it did, Adele 
would have heard all about it, and I do so 
want to surprise her.” 

Elsie Slater was delighted because she 
was to make the girls a real visit, and 
Mandy, who was just about Elsie’s height, 
offered her a pretty house dress to wear. 

“ Oh, aren’t we having the best time 
ever? ” Adele exclaimed joyfully. 

Such fun as the four girls had that night. 
They retired early to their rooms, and, un- 
dressing, put on their bright-colored ki- 
monos, — Eva had an extra one that she 
loaned to Elsie, — and then sat on the floor, 
tailor-wise, in front of the glowing grate fire 
in Eva’s room. To a delighted audience 


160 


ADELE DORING 


Elsie told about her boarding-school life, 
and, before they knew it, the living-room 
clock was chiming the hour of ten. 

Eva arose. “ This never will do,” she 
said, “for we may be up quite late to- 
morrow night.” 

“ Why? ” Adele asked. 

What should Eva say? If she told the 
truth, it would spoil the surprise. Elsie was 
thinking this also, and so she exclaimed, to 
change the subject, “ Girls, Fm almost 
asleep this minute. If you have a bed for 
me, please lead me to it.” 

Mandy, leaning over, took Elsie’s hand, 
and, pretending to pull her up, she replied, 
“You are to have the pleasure of sleeping 
with me, Lady Fair.” 

Half an hour later all was quiet, save now 
and then the dismal howling of a distant 
coyote. 


CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO 


TRYING TO KEEP A SECRET 

The next morning Eva was up as soon as 
the ducks began to quack down by Pequeno 
Lago, — Little Lake. Stealing out, that she 
might not awaken the other girls, she hunted 
for her Uncle Dick, whom she found break- 
fasting. 

“Well, Eva mine,” he exclaimed, when 
they had exchanged a loving greeting, 
“have you managed to keep Adele from 
learning your secret? ” 

“ Y-e-s, I think we have so far,” Eva re- 
plied, “although she does suspect 'some- 
thing. But we won’t be able to keep her 
from knowing it much longer, not if she is 
to stay around here all day, for there are 
so many preparations to make. I wish she 
might go away somewhere. I would so love 

to really surprise her.” 

161 


162 


ADELE DORING 


Uncle Dick’s face brightened. u Your 
wish shall be granted,” he declared, “ that 
is, if Adele would like to take a ride in the 
‘ iron pony,’ for Donald Dare is going into 
Douglas to-day, to lay in supplies for a 
month. I was going to suggest that Jack 
ride in with him, but since there is only 
room for one passenger coming back, that 
one would better be Adele. Then she will 
know nothing of your preparations for this 
evening.” 

Eva gave her uncle a bear-hug as she ex- 
claimed : “ Oh, you dear ! That is a fine 
scheme. I am almost sure that Della will 
be delighted to take that ride.” 

Eva was right, for when Adele heard 
about it, she was eager to go. “ You three 
girls are used to the desert,” she said, “ but 
it is all so new to me that I just can’t see 
enough of it.” 

Half an hour later Donald drove the 
“ iron pony ” around to the front veranda, 
and, leaping down, he helped Adele to the 
seat beside him. Then, with a honking of 


ON A EANCH 


163 


the horn and a waving of hats and hand- 
kerchiefs, the automobile and its occupants 
disappeared over the mesa. As soon as they 
were out of sight, Eva whirled around, ex- 
claiming, “ I never supposed that the time 
would come when I should want to get rid 
of Adele, but it surely came to-day, for I 
do so want to surprise her to-night. Now, 
come on, girls ; there is so much to do to get 
ready.” 

The day passed quickly for the three busy 
girls, and at five o’clock they began to watch 
for Adele’s return; but the automobile did 
not appear, and when six o’clock arrived 
and no Adele, Eva was truly worried. 

“ I did so want her to be here before any 
one else came,” she said. “ I can’t see why 
Donald is so late.” 

“ Here they come now,” Mandy cried, and 
the three joyfully ran out to the porch to 
meet their friend. 

“ Why, girls,” Adele declared, “ you have 
on pretty white dresses. What does that 
mean? ” 


164 


ADELE DORING 


“ We thought we would dress up to-night 
just for fun,” Eva said; “and maybe we’ll 
have a candy-pull or something like that and 
play it is a party.” 

“ Oh, goody ! ” Adele merrily exclaimed. 
“And did you invite the coyotes and the 
jack-rabbits and burros? ” 

Eva laughed as she led Adele to her room. 
“Now you wash,” she said, “and put on 
your pretty rosebud dress, and I will help 
you, for supper is ready and I know you 
must be hungry.” 

Adele, all unsuspecting, did as she was 
told. 

As soon as supper was over the three girls 
returned to the living-room, and Adele, hap- 
pening to glance out of the window, ex- 
claimed, “ Eva, do look. Here comes a big 
hay-wagon drawn by four horses, and I de- 
clare if it isn’t filled with people. Where 
have they come from, and where do you sup- 
pose they are going? ” 

Out to the veranda the four girls went, 


ON A RANCH 


165 


and the young driver, who was Danny Wells, 
the station-master’s son, from Silver Creek 
Junction, urged the four big horses to their 
top speed, and so they galloped up to the 
ranch house in grand style. 

“ Here we all be ! ” jolly Mr. Wells an- 
nounced as he climbed over a wheel and 
then held up his arms to lift down the three 
little Wells children, who were aged nine, 
seven, and two. Their freckled faces were 
shiny-clean, and the black pigtails on the 
two little girls stood stiffly out at an angle, 
with a pert red bow tied on the end of each. 
Eva, after shaking hands with Mr. Wells, 
introduced him and the children to 
Adele. 

“ These are Lizzie and Lottie Wells,” she 
said ; “ and this little chubby fellow they call 
Toady. I never have heard his real name, 
but I suppose that he has one, hasn’t he, 
Mrs. Wells?” the girl inquired, as she 
turned to greet a pleasant-faced, portly 
woman who was now approaching. 

“Oh, yes,” that proud mother replied. 


166 


ADELE DOBING 


“ Toady has a respectable name, but he’s so 
fat and freckled it doesn’t seem to fit him 
just now, so we thought we wouldn’t use it 
until he was growed. You see his granny 
was living with us when he was born, and 
when it came to choosing a name, I wanted 
to call him Algernon, after a nice young 
man in a book; and his paw wanted to call 
him Fearless J ake, after a man he liked over 
at the gulch; but Granny said she’d name 
him herself, so she opened the Bible and 
picked out the first name her eyes lit on, 
and it was Solomon, so that is Toady’s real 
name.” 

This explanation had been addressed to 
Adele while Eva was welcoming the other 
newcomers whom she now introduced to her 
friend. 

“ Della,” she said, “this is Mrs. Darkus, 
who used to be a school-teacher at the Junc- 
tion until she married the handsomest cow- 
boy in southern Arizona ; and in this roll of 
flannel I think you will find Baby Darkus, if 
you peep.” 


ON A RANCH 


167 


“ Oh, Mrs. Darkus, may I please, please 
peep? ” Adele implored. 

The pretty young mother uncovered the 
tiny pink face of her first-born, and how 
Adele yearned to take the little blue-eyed 
darling in her arms; but Eva was calling 
her to come and meet Mr. and Mrs. Dickson 
and the seven Dickson “ steps.” 

“ That’s what we call our young ’uns,” 
Mrs. Dickson declared. “Four boys and 
three girls, and all red-headed. ’Most the 
only difference we can see in them is that 
each is a head taller than the one next 
younger.” 

Adele, all this while, was secretly wonder- 
ing where these people had come from, and 
so she asked, “ Do you live here, Mrs. Dick- 
son? ” 

“ Oh, yes, indeed,” that bustling, middle- 
aged woman replied. “We are real near 
neighbors, — near enough to borrow a teacup 
of sugar if need be. We only live eight miles 
to the southwest of here and four miles from 
the Junction.” 


168 


ADELE DORING 


Adele gasped. It was plain tliat she 
would have to change her former ideas about 
neighbors. 

His passengers having all alighted, Danny 
Wells was starting to drive his foursome 
down to the corral, when he drew rein and 
called back over his shoulder, “ Sounds like 
a stampede of wild horses coming this 
way.” 

“And so there is,” Uncle Dick exclaimed, 
as he pointed toward the mesa, on which 
there appeared at least a dozen cowboys, 
who, as soon as they saw the group on the 
porch, began to utter wild whoops and . fire 
shots into the air. 

Adele clutched Eva’s arm. “What are 
they? ” she cried in real alarm. 

Eva laughed as she replied, “ Why, Della, 
they are some of the guests who are coming 
to our party.” 

“Party!” Adele cried with shining eyes. 
“ Oh, now I understand it all. I simply 
couldn’t imagine why these people were 
stopping here. Jack, think of having guests 


ON A RANCH 


169 


come to a party back East, whooping and 
firing guns like that.” 

“It’s great,” Jack exclaimed. “How I 
do wish that Bob was here to see those cow- 
boys ride.” 

The next to arrive was an automobile load 
of girls, who had come all the way from 
Douglas. Merry strains of music were 
heard from within, and then the party 
began. 


CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE 

A STRANGE PARTY 

“ Bar X Ranch , Silver Creek , Ariz. 

“ My Adorable Mother and Giant Daddy : 

“ I am so sleepy that I can hardly 
keep my eyes open, but I have had such an 
exciting time that I do want to write you 
all about it, and if I don’t do it now, it will 
be a whole week before I get another chance 
to mail a letter. You see we don’t have 
post-boxes on the corners here, because there 
aren’t any corners, to begin with, and no 
postmen to collect the mail. 

“ Whenever a cowboy happens to be rid- 
ing the range near town, he takes the mail 
with him, and then later brings some back 
for us. I didn’t know that it was such fun 
to watch for mail until I came out here. At 
home I had most everybody I loved right 
around me, but now that I am so far away 
from all of you, I get dreadfully excited 
when I see Rusty Pete or Donald Dare on 
the mesa trail with a mail-bag tied to his 
saddle-horn, for I just know that I am to 
have some nice, plump letters. I’m going to 
A70 


ON A RANCH 171 

send one every week, and you write me one, 
too. 

“ Oh, Mumsie, I feel just exactly like a 
girl living in a Wild West story-book. What 
do you think? I was up all night and until 
daybreak this morning. Do you wonder 
that I am sleepy? 

“ Now, if you are all properly curious, I 
will tell you what I was doing. I was at a 
cowboys’ party ! That is, it was Eva’s party, 
but there were cowboys at it, dressed in their 
fringed leather chaps, with red handker- 
chiefs knotted about their necks ; and when 
they arrived, they came galloping up on 
their wiry mustangs, whooping and firing 
their six-shooters into the air. I thought 
we were all going to be massacred, or that 
something dreadful was about to happen, 
but Eva laughingly told me it was only a 
party. Then a carload of pretty young girls 
came from Douglas, the desert city that is 
nearest us, and two fiddlers from somewhere 
played the j oiliest dance music, and how I 
do wish the girls could have seen those cow- 
boys dance ! But most of all I enjoyed the 
babies! Oh, I see your eyes open wide in 
surprise. 6 Babies at a cowboys’ party ! ’ 
you exclaim. Well, I was just as much sur- 
prised myself when I saw whole families ar- 
riving; but out here people do not keep 
nurse-girls, and so where the fathers and 
mothers go, the youngsters go, too. Mandy 


172 


ADELE DORING 


and I had the best kind of a time amusing 
them until about ten o’clock, when they all 
fell asleep. Then we laid them in rows on 
the beds and went out to watch the fun. 
At midnight supper was served. They called 
it a barbecue, and there was enough of 
everything to feed a regiment. After that 
they danced until dawn, and then the 
mothers and fathers picked up their sleep- 
ing children and carried them away. Next 
the carload of girls started for the city, the 
cowboys galloping alongside, whooping and 
shooting into the air. We four girls were 
in bed and asleep five minutes later, and we 
did not wake until noon to-day. I’m not 
sure that I’m awake even yet, but at any 
rate I’m sitting up, and trying to write you 
all about it, because Rusty Pete will start to 
town with the mail to-morrow morning be- 
fore we are up. 

“ Now write me by return post, and tell 
me if the girls had any picnics or parties 
since I left. I do hope that you miss me a 
teeny, weeny bit. I miss all of you so much. 

“ Your loving daughter, 

“ Adele Doring. 

“ P. S. Elsie Slater, who is a charming 
girl from a neighboring ranch, is visiting us, 
but she goes home to-day. A. D. 

“ P. S. again. Jack just came in with a 
huge dead rattlesnake hanging over his gun. 


ON A RANCH 


173 


He wants you to tell Bob about it. He 
has killed so many that Donald calls him 
‘ Rattlesnake J ack,’ and you can’t guess 
how pleased that brother of mine is. He 
thinks he is a full-fledged cowboy now. Jack 
says to tell Bob that he’ll write to him on 
next week’s mail. I can hardly wait for to- 
morrow night, for I am so sure there will 
be a letter from you all. 

“ Good-by once more. 


u Adele.” 


CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR 

ELSIE SLATER’S ADVENTURE 

Adele, having finished writing her letter, 
dropped it into the mail-bag, which during 
the week hung near the fireplace, and, as 
the days passed, bulged more and more with 
outgoing mail. Then, turning, she saw Elsie 
Slater dressed once more in her cowgirl togs, 
and that reminded Adele that their guest 
was about to leave them. Impulsively catch- 
ing hold of her hands, she exclaimed, “ Oh, 
Elsie, I am so sorry that you are going so 
far away. I just love to have you with 
us.” 

“ And I love to be with all of you,” Elsie 
replied. “But, Adele,” she added gayly, 
“ I am not going far away. I just live over 
one range of mountains ten miles to the 

south. Eva and I are real near neighbors, 
174 


ON A KANCH 


1T5 


and, what is more,” she continued, as the 
other two girls entered the room, “ you are 
all to come and visit me soon. You will 
bring them, won’t you, Eva? ” 

“We will be glad to come,” Eva replied. 
Then, turning to Adele, she said, “ It’s such 
a beautiful day, suppose we ride a mile or 
two with our departing guest.” 

“ Oh, good ! I wish you would,” Elsie ex- 
claimed. 

Fifteen minutes later the four girls were 
on horseback, picking their way over the 
rocky, dry creek-bottom and up the steep 
bluff on the other side, where the trail was 
so narrow that it scarcely seemed as though 
a horse could get a foothold; but soon they 
reached the top, and a smooth plateau 
stretched to the mountains that rose rugged 
and sheer out of the desert. 

“ Let’s race to yonder giant cactus,” Elsie 
called, as she pointed with her quirt. u One, 
two, three, go! ” 

Away the four wiry ponies galloped, en- 
joying the frolic as much as did their young 


176 


ADELE DORING 


riders. Elsie, far more used to the saddle 
than the others, was easily victorious, and 
Adele gayly adorned the winning pony with 
a red ribbon bow, torn from her own brown 
braid. 

At the giant cactus they said good-by, and 
then Elsie rode away, while the other three 
sat on their ponies, watching until she had 
entered the mountain pass. 

“ Is it perfectly safe for Elsie to cross the 
mountains alone? ” Adele asked. 

“ It must be,” Eva replied. “ If it wasn’t, 
her father and Uncle Tim would not permit 
her to ride that way so often.” 

“ Well, she surely is brave,” Adele said, 
and she often looked back at the rugged 
mountains, wondering if she would ever be 
so courageous. 

Reaching home, the girls retired to their 
rooms for an afternoon siesta, and when 
they awakened it was nearing the supper 
hour. Arm in arm they sauntered to the 
front porch. They saw Jack galloping up 
from the valley pasture. He seemed much 


ON A EANCH 


177 


excited about something. The girls hailed 
him. 

“ What has happened, Jack? ” Adele 
asked. 

The boy drew rein as he replied, “ Miguel 
came through the mountain pass this morn- 
ing, and he told us that he saw a big bear. 
He thinks it was a mother, with little ones 
not far away. I wanted to go after it right 
then, but the pasture-fence was broken and 
we had to fix it. We three boys are going 
on a bear-hunt now. Why, what’s the 
matter, Sis? You needn’t worry about me. 
I won’t be hurt.” 

“ I was thinking of Elsie Slater,” Adele 
explained. “ Oh, Eva, do you suppose she 
is safely home? She said she would tele- 
phone the moment she reached there.” 

“ Maybe she did call,” Eva said quietly. 
“You know we have been asleep, and no 
one else was in the house all the afternoon. 
I’ll ring up and find out.” 

A few minutes later Eva returned, look- 
ing pale and troubled. 


178 


ADELE DORING 


“ There was no reply,” she said. “ Either 
the line is out of order or there is no one at 
home.” 

“ Do you mean to tell me that Elsie Slater 
rode alone through the mountain pass where 
Miguel saw the bear? ” Jack inquired. 

Eva nodded. 

“ Then there is not a moment to lose,” the 
boy said. “We will ride to the pass at 
once.” He turned and galloped back to the 
corral, where Donald Dare and Rusty Pete 
were waiting for him. 

Meanwhile, when Elsie bade her three 
friends good-by at the giant cactus, she gal- 
loped away toward the mountain pass, turn- 
ing now and then to wave to them. She had 
had such a happy visit, and as she rode up 
the narrow trail she was living it all over 
again in her thoughts. Although the sun 
was shining brightly on the desert, it was 
like dim twilight in the canyon. The rugged 
walls of rock rose on either side of her, with 
here and there a scraggly bush struggling to 


OJS T A BANCH 


179 


grow in an earth-filled crack. It surely was 
a desolate trail, and Elsie remembered bow 
Adele had shuddered at the thought of a 
young girl riding through it alone. She 
could easily understand how an Easterner, 
unused to the mountains, might be afraid; 
but she, desert-raised, knew no fear. Years 
ago it would have been dangerous for even 
a man to ride through there alone. She had 
often heard her father and Uncle Tim tell 
how the Indians would hide behind rocks 
and bowlders and steal out upon unsuspect- 
ing travelers ; but those days were far in the 
past. Then, too, in earlier times there had 
been wild animals in these mountains; but 
now they were seldom seen, and when they 
did appear, they were more afraid of the 
horseman than he was of them. At this 
point Elsie’s thoughts were interrupted by 
a crashing noise, and a huge bowlder 
plunged down one of the rocky walls and 
split in a hundred pieces on the trail not far 
ahead of her. The pony, Whirlwind, not 
understanding what had happened, reared 


180 


ADELE DORING 


and backed, and although Elsie was a good 
horsewoman, she could not control the 
frightened animal, and so she thought best 
to leap to the ground. Then it was that she 
heard a low growl back of her, and that 
sound so terrorized the horse that he plunged 
blindly ahead and left Elsie alone in the 
mountain pass with some wild creature, she 
knew not what. 

For the first time in her fourteen years, 
the desert girl was frightened. She drew 
the small gun that she always carried lest 
she should encounter a rattlesnake, and 
then, as quickly as possible, she began to 
climb to an overhanging rock, that she might 
have a better view of the pass. 

Lying flat on the top of the ledge, she 
looked down on the trail. Suddenly her 
heart stopped beating, for she saw the 
creature that had growled. It was a big 
brown bear, and with it were three small 
cubs. It had evidently seen the horse, but 
Elsie felt sure that it did not know of her 
near presence. It was standing just be- 


ON A RANCH 


181 


neath her hiding-place, watching the gallop- 
ing horse that was fast disappearing. Now 
and then it uttered a low, rumbling growl, 
and the three cubs huddled close to their 
mother for protection from what danger 
they knew not. Elsie hardly dared to 
breathe, for fear the big bear would hear 
and turn upon her. Her one hope was that 
Whirlwind would go straight home, and 
then she well knew that her father or uncle 
would understand that something had hap- 
pened and would come in search of her. 
The watching bear did not move for what 
seemed to be an endless length of time, and 
then, when it did, it started to climb the 
rocks near Elsie’s hiding-place. In another 
moment the girl was sure it would see her, 

and then Her heart stopped beating 

as she thought of her possible fate. 


CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE 


MEETING A BEAR 

Elsie, lying flat on the top of an over- 
hanging ledge, scarcely dared to breathe, as 
she intently watched the big bear slowly 
lumbering up the rocks below her. She did 
not shoot, for she well knew that the wound 
that her gun could inflict would merely in- 
furiate the animal, and that then she would 
surely be torn to pieces. Her only hope lay 
in the possibility that the huge creature 
would pass her by unobserved. She was 
glad she had on her khaki riding-habit, since 
it was so much the color of the rocks. 

Slowly the bear ascended, and in another 
moment Elsie would be in full view. Brave 
as she was, the girl felt that she could lie 
still no longer. She had a wild desire to 
leap to her feet and run, but that, she knew, 
182 


ON A RANCH 


183 


would destroy even tlie small chance she had 
of escape. 

The head of the bear appeared for one 
second on a level with the girl, but suddenly 
the animal turned and looked back. There 
had been a frightened cry from one of the 
cubs. The little bear was so small and 
round that it had missed its footing, and, 
like a soft ball, had rolled back to the trail. 
The big mother-bear growled gently and 
waited for the little fellow to again try the 
ascent. 

Frightened as she was, Elsie could not but 
think that the bear was the cutest little fel- 
low she had ever seen. Its whining cry 
seemed to say, “Mother Bear, come down 
and help me. I’m not big enough yet to 
climb such a steep place.” 

Then the huge bear seemed to grunt an af- 
fectionate reply, and, to Elsie’s immense 
relief, it turned and lumbered down to the 
trail. 

For a moment the mother’s big shaggy 
head rested on the little bear, as though 


184 


ADELE DOPING 


caressing it. Then, with a few short growls 
that seemed to say, “ Come, little ones, we 
won’t try to climb until your legs are 
stronger,” the mother-bear led the young 
cubs through the pass to another part of the 
mountains. 

When Elsie realized she was safe, she felt 
like springing up and shouting for joy ; but, 
knowing that this would be unwise, she lay 
still and waited for the help that she was 
sure would soon come to her. She was 
right, for a few moments later she heard 
shots and the sound of voices hallooing down 
the trail toward Bar X, and then three 
horsemen appeared, Jack in the lead. 

“ Elsie ! ” he called. “ Where are you? ” 

The girl sprang to her feet. “ Here I am, 
Jack,” she replied; and then, as fast as she 
could, she scrambled down the rocks. When 
the three cowboys saw her white face and 
heard the story of her narrow escape from 
being torn to pieces, they wanted to start at 
once in search of the bear and kill it. But 
Elsie said, “Please don’t. Somehow I don’t 



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ON A KANCH 


185 


want that bear shot. It’s a mother-bear, and 
it loves its little ones I know, and the baby 
cubs are so cunning.” 

The boys saw that, brave as Elsie was, she 
was very much upset by her recent ad- 
venture and they decided not to go contrary 
to her wishes at that time. While they were 
talking, Tom Slater and his brother, Tim, 
appeared from the other direction, leading 
a horse for Elsie. Her father caught his 
little girl in his arms and held her as though 
he would never let her go. The three cow- 
boys rode with them over the mountains, 
looking for old bruin, but the bear, if she 
saw them, wisely kept in hiding. When the 
three boys were returning, Jack said, 
“ That’s the trouble with girls — they are so 
tender-hearted ; but I suppose, in a way, this 
bear sort of belongs to Elsie, and we ought 
not to shoot it if she wants it to live.” 

“ But we can’t leave a bear with three 
young ones at large here, where the girls 
ride so often alone,” Donald declared. 
“ That bear must have come from some other 


186 


ADELE DORING 


range. There hasn’t been one sighted in 
these mountains for many years. I’ll tell 
you what. They’re starting a zoo over at 
Douglas. Let’s try to catch the creature 
alive, with her cubs. That would be heaps 
more sport than just shooting her.” 

But although the boys returned the next 
day, the bear was not found. Rusty Pete 
was of the opinion that the wise old mother- 
bear had decided that she had wandered too 
near the haunts of man, and had returned 
with her little ones to some more distant and 
less frequented mountain range from which 
she had evidently come. Elsie Slater 
secretly rejoiced when she heard the result 
of the bear hunt, for she dreaded the thought 
of having her bear penned in a cage, rest- 
lessly pacing up and down and longing for 
the freedom and the wild life of the moun- 
tains. 


CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX 


A LETTER FROM JACK TO BOB 

That night Jack wrote the long-promised 
letter to his pal, Bob Angel, who was spend- 
ing his uneventful vacation in Sunnyside, 
Jack’s Eastern home. 

“ Bar X Ranch, Silver Creek , Ariz. 

“ Hello, Old Man ! 

“What are you up to these days? 
Nothing very exciting, I am sure of that. 
You’re probably riding around in that re- 
spectable four-wheeler of yours that never 
does anything more thrilling than puncture 
a tire, while I, now a full-fledged cowboy, do 
marvelous feats, bareback, on a bucking 
broncho ; that is, I was on its back for one- 
quarter of a second, and then I wasn’t. You 
ought to have been here to see the fun ! Say, 
Bob, do you remember how we used to creep 
under the tent-flaps to see a circus when we 
were kids, and how we did admire the Wild 
West stunts? Well, those were tame com- 
pared to what yours truly did yesterday. 
Pete and Donald were going to ‘bust’ a 
187 


188 


ADELE DOBING 


broncho, and of course I wanted to be in on 
it. It was a wiry, yellowish horse with fiery 
eyes, and Pete called it ‘ Sulphur.’ It was 
the first time it had ever had a bit in its 
mouth, and Rusty Pete had been riding it 
hard until they thought it was pretty well 
tired out, so they said that I might take a 
little canter on it if I wished. I saw there 
was a twinkle in Donald’s eyes, and Rusty 
whirled on his heel and looked the other 
way to hide a grin, I was sure of that. They 
thought I wasn’t game, but I made up my 
mind that I would try to ride that wild 
broncho if it was the last thing that I ever 
did, and so I replied, ‘ Sure ! I’ll take a 
turn on him.’ But the minute that horse 
saw me, he snorted and reared and stood 
high on his hind legs for so long that I didn’t 
know whether or not he ever was coming 
down again, so that I could mount him. 
When he was on all fours once more, Rusty 
Pete drawled , 1 Sulphur is kind of particular 
who rides him, I reckon. He doesn’t seem 
to like your looks, Jack. Guess we’ll have 
to blindfold him and then maybe he’ll be 
quieter.’ 

“ That’s what they did, and the broncho 
was so puzzled that he stood still long 
enough for me to scramble up on his back. 
Then when Pete snatched off the bandage, 
the horse, infuriated by the unfair advantage 
that we had taken of him, dashed madly 


ON A RANCH 


189 


around the corral, and, before I could guess 
what he was going to do, leaped over the 
fence, knocking off the top rail. As for me, 
I went flying through the air and luckily 
landed on a mound of soft sand ; but if I’d 
gone a foot farther, I would have landed on 
the prickliest cactus that grows anywhere 
around. 

“ I tell you, Bob, this life is cram full of 
adventure. I wish you’d jump in your four- 
wheeler and head this way. Mr. Dearman 
is great. He said he’d be glad to have you 
come. 

“ Well, I hear a commotion outside, so I’ll 
end this letter and see what it is. 

“ Your old pal, 

“Rattlesnake Jack.” 

Seizing his sombrero, the lad hurried out 
and down toward the corral. 

It was twilight, but Jack could plainly 
discern the figures of three men in excited 
conversation, and, as he neared them, he saw 
that they were Mr. Dearman, Donald Dare, 
and Rusty Pete. 

“What’s up?” Jack called as the three 
turned toward him. 

“ That’s just what we don’t know,” Mr. 
Dearman replied. 


190 


ADELE DORING 


“And what we intend to find out this very 
night, if possible,” Donald declared. “ I, 
for one, will gladly go and camp out down 
there, and see if I can catch the thief.” 

“ Thief ! ” Jack exclaimed. “ What thief, 
and where is he? ” 

“I don’t wonder that you are puzzled, 
Jack,” Mr. Dearman said, “since you did 
not hear the beginning of the story. You 
know last week, when we rounded up the 
cows with very young calves, there were 
about forty of them, and we turned them 
into the lower pasture, thinking that we 
would not brand them until to-morrow. 
Well, Rusty was down there this afternoon, 
to see if there was water enough in the 
troughs, and as he neared the pasture he 
heard first one cow bellowing and then an- 
other, the way they do when they have lost 
their young. When he reached the pasture, 
he soon saw that there were a number of 
cows alone, and, upon counting them, he 
found that several calves were missing. 
You know a calf will not willingly leave its 


ON A RANCH 


191 


mother, so the question is, were they dragged 
away by wild animals or stolen by rustlers?” 

“ That’s the question,” Donald Dare re- 
peated. “And now, Jack, are you willing to 
go with Pete and me and find the answer? ” 

“ ‘ Willing’ isn’t the word,” Jack declared. 
“ Wild horses couldn’t keep me from going. 
When do we start? ” 

“ Instanter,” Donald replied. “ Rusty 
and I will wrangle some fresh mounts while 
you go up to the house, Jack, and get Bonita 
to fill a basket with grub. I haven’t had a 
thing to eat since sun-up. Bring along your 
blankets. There’s a shack down there where 
we can cook and sleep. Be as quick as you 
can. It will be dark before many minutes 
now, and the thief may be at work before we 
get there.” 

Jack, hungering for adventure, was over- 
joyed that one was so near at hand. “ Not 
that I want Mr. Dearman to be the loser, to 
be sure,” he exclaimed to Adele, who, with 
Eva and Bonita, were rushing about in the 
kitchen, filling a basket with “ grub,” as the 


192 


ADELE DOBING 


boys called it ; “ but I was so disappointed 
when I lost out on that bear. Just think 
what a thrilling letter I could have written 
to Bob if only I had lassoed a grizzly, but 
now, if I capture a rustler, or whoever the 
thief may be, that will do pretty nearly as 
well. Good-by, Sis! Now, don’t worry 
about me. I have a charmed life, I guess.” 
And then, with a wave of his sombrero, the 
boy hurried away toward the corral with the 
well-filled basket and his blankets. 

The three girls stood at the living-room 
window, watching him go. 

“ How different boys are,” Amanda said. 
“We would heaps rather sit here by the 
fire and sew than go on any such wild ad- 
venture.” 

Adele sighed as they turned back to their 
pleasant tasks, which Jack’s hasty advent 
had so recently interrupted. “ I hope 
brother will not run into needless danger,” 
she said. “ I do believe he cares more about 
having something exciting to tell Bob than 
he does for the adventure itself.” 


ON A RANCH 


193 


Eva laughed as she lighted the big, rose- 
shaded lamp on the magazine-littered table, 
and, reseating herself, took up a tiny white 
garment on which she was sewing. Each 
of the girls was making something for the 
new Dickson baby at the K-Cross ranch, 
and they were planning to ride over with 
their gifts on the following day. 

Meanwhile the three cowboys rode silently 
through the gathering darkness. They 
hoped to steal upon the pasture unseen by 
the possible rustlers who might be in hiding 
among the desolate sand-hills. Even the 
horses seemed to understand, and made no 
sound. The sand-hills, weird and deserted- 
looking in the full light of day, loomed dark 
and forbidding against the gray western sky. 

Beyond, the desert sloped to a depression 
two miles in extent, where a coarse grass 
grew luxuriantly during the rainy season. 
Part of this had been fenced and was called 
the valley pasture. At the far end a small 
shack had been erected, and toward this the 
boys were headed. 


194 


ADELE DOKING 


Silently Donald Dare swung tlie gate wide 
and the others passed through. The cattle 
seemed to be quiet, and, after fastening the 
gate, the three boys rode around the outer 
edge until they reached the shack. Then, 
turning the horses loose to feed, they entered 
the shed and closed the door. A lantern 
hanging on the wall was lighted long enough 
for the boys to be sure that they were alone. 
Then they threw their blankets on the floor, 
and as soon as possible extinguished the 
light for fear it might be seen, by whom they 
knew not. 

They decided to sleep two at a time, one 
to be left on guard. Donald and Pete were 
the first to take to the blankets, while Jack 
seated himself in the open doorway, his six- 
shooter on his knees. 

An hour passed, and the night settled 
down unusually dark. Still another hour, 
and nothing had happened. It would soon 
be J ack’s turn to sleep, and he had so hoped 
that the thieves would come during his 
watch. He had risen and was about to 


ON A RANCH 


195 


waken Pete when he saw something moving 
stealthily along on the outside of the fence. 

Tiptoeing into the shack, he shook Donald 
gently, not wishing to arouse him too sud- 
denly, and then whispered, “ Quick, get your 
gun! The thief is coming! It’s either a 
rustler creeping along on hands and knees, 
or else it’s a wild animal.” 


CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN 
jack's narrow escape 

Donald Dare, though at first only half 
awake, sprang to his feet and seized his gun. 
Pete, seeming in his sleep to sense the ex- 
citement, leaped from his blankets. 

“ What is it? ” he whispered. “ What has 
happened? ” 

“ Nothing has happened yet,” Donald re- 
plied softly. “Jack thought he saw some 
one or something creeping along outside of 
the fence.” 

“ I don’t see anything now,” Jack said in 
a disappointed tone, as he peered intently 
into the darkness. Then he clutched 
Donald’s arm as he pointed with his other 
hand. “ Yes, I do,” he whispered. “ There 
it is — a long, dark object standing so still 
outside of the fence that at first I thought 
it was a rock.” 


196 


ON A RANCH 197 

The three boys stole out and stood close 
to the front of the shack. 

“I think it is a mountain lion,” Rusty 
whispered ; “ and if ’tis, Pm pretty sure he 
is the thief that we are after. Have your 
guns ready, but don’t shoot until he comes 
nearer. If he sees us or hears us, he will 
bound away.” 

The animal was standing still, alert. It 
seemed to sense danger, but could not place 
it. The boys scarcely breathed as they 
waited; then suddenly Jack tightened his 
hold on Donald’s arm. The lion was again 
moving stealthily toward them. How Jack 
wished that he might be the one to shoot it. 
He wanted to be able to tell Bob about it. 
Pete seemed to understand the younger 
boy’s desire, and so, with lips close to his 
ear, he whispered, “ Jack, when the lion 
passes the next post, take careful aim and 
shoot. If you miss, Donald and I will fire, 
for we must get him.” 

Jack’s heart thumped with excitement. 
With his gun in readiness he waited, and the 


198 


ADELE DORING 


moment the dark head appeared beyond the 
post, he fired. There was an unearthly 
screech, and the animal bounded away. 
Donald and Pete shot almost together, but 
the mountain lion did not stop. 

Jack was remorseful. “ I was so excited,” 
he declared, “ I did not wait as long as you 
told me to, Pete. I wish I had let you shoot 
first.” 

“ Never mind, Jack,” the older boy said 
kindly. “ We all have to learn. We’ll get 
him yet, even if we have to camp out here 
for a week. There is one thing sure, he 
won’t be back to-night and so we can all roll 
up in our blankets and get a good sleep.” 

The next morning Jack was awake at 
sun-up. He turned over, but saw only 
blankets at his side. Then he smelled an 
odor of frying bacon. Springing up, he 
went outside and saw Donald and Pete 
busily preparing breakfast over a fire that 
was surrounded with rocks, to prevent its 
spreading in the dry grass. 

Jack was hungry, but as soon as he had 


ON A EANCH 


199 


eaten lie sprang up, exclaiming, “ I’m going 
to take a look at the place where the lion 
was when I shot at him.” 

He ran to the fence, and, leaping over, ex- 
amined the ground. Suddenly he straight- 
ened up, and, waving frantically, he called : 
“ Donald ! Pete ! Come quick. One of us 
must have hit him, and we can follow his 
trail easy. See, it leads right over toward 
the place you call the rock quarry. Shall 
we follow it now? ” 

Pete shook his head and looked thought- 
ful. “I dunno as we ought,” he replied. 
“A mountain lion is coward enough at times, 
but if we cornered him in his den, there’s no 
telling what kind of a fight he’d put up.” 

The younger boy looked so disappointed 
that Pete laughingly added, “ Well ! Well ! 
Rattlesnake J ack, if your heart is set on the 
adventure, we will follow the trail over to- 
ward the rock quarry.” 

If Pete had known what was going to 
happen, it is possible that he would have 
turned back, but, not knowing, the three 


200 


ADELE POKING 


boys kept on following the trail across the 
glistening sands. 

As they neared the place called the rock 
quarry, they held their guns in readiness 
to shoot, should they see the mountain lion 
they were pursuing. 

“ Looks as if some giant once upon a time 
had started to build a mountain here out of 
bowlders and then went away and forgot to 
finish it,” Jack said quietly. 

“ There are plenty of hiding-places in 
there,” Pete told them. “It’s a wise man 
who gives that heap o’ rocks a wide berth, 
for it’s a popular summer resort for 
rattlers.” 

The boys walked slowly around the minia- 
ture mountain, and searched it with eyes 
well shaded from the glaring sun. 

" I don’t hear a sound,” Jack said. “ I 
don’t believe our lion is there, after all.” 

Little did Jack know that one of the chief 
characteristics of a mountain lion is the 
absolute silence it keeps when it is about to 
attack, and all this while, on a wide, over- 


ON A RANCH 


201 


hanging ledge, the huge, cat-like animal was 
lying, watching every move the three boys 
made, and, as they neared its hiding-place, 
was noiselessly preparing to spring. 

Jack, going ahead of the others, was 
directly in front of the ledge when Rusty 
Pete’s quick eye noted a movement above. 

“ Run, Jack ! Run ! ” he started to cry. 
But before he could form the words, the lion 
had leaped from the rock, and, landing upon 
Jack’s shoulder, had knocked the boy to the 
ground. With terror in their hearts the 
two other boys ran to the spot. Then, tak- 
ing careful aim, that they might not hit 
Jack, they fired, and the mountain lion, 
without uttering a sound, rolled over, dead. 

“ Thanks be ! ” Rusty Pete exclaimed, as 
though he were uttering a prayer. “ I tell 
you, Donald Dare, I’ve lived a hard life 
and had a lot of scary adventures, but that 
was the first time I was ever thoroughly 
frightened.” 

“ But what’s the matter with J ack? Why 
doesn’t he get up? ” Donald asked anxiously, 


202 


ADELE DORING 


as he stooped over the boy, who lay pale and 
still on the hot sand. 

Then, with a new fear for the younger boy 
whom he had learned to love like a brother, 
he knelt down beside him and listened to his 
heart. 

“ It’s beating,” he said, looking up at 
Pete. “He must be stunned by the fall. 
I’m sure the creature didn’t have time to 
hurt him before we shot. His coat is pretty 
much torn, though.” 

Jack slowly opened his eyes and looked 
puzzled. 

“Hello, Donald!” he said. “What’s 
happened? ” 

Then, as his memory returned, he added : 
“ Oh, I know. We are hunting for a moun- 
tain lion. But say, what happened to me? 
Who knocked me down? ” 

Donald, just because he was so relieved to 
find that the younger boy was unhurt, 
laughed as he replied, “ Well, Jack, you are 
some hunter. Tried to catch the mountain 
lion in your arms, didn’t you? But it’s 


ON A EANCH 


203 


lucky for you that Pete and I had our guns 
ready to fire. There she lies yonder, a 
mother-lion, I judge, and it wouldn’t sur- 
prise me any if she had some kittens hidden 
away in the rocks up on that ledge.” 

“We ought to make sure about it,” Pete 
said ; “ for if they manage to grow up, they’ll 
be killing calves themselves before long.” 

Just then Jack happened to look up to the 
ledge, and he saw three of the cutest baby 
lions, no larger than kittens, peering over at 
him, probably wondering where their mother 
had gone. 

“ You fellows wait here,” Pete exclaimed. 
“ I’m going to catch those little critters and 
we’ll raise ’em for pets.” 

Half an hour later, with the three lion 
kittens secured in an Indian basket, covered 
with a blanket, Donald Dare and Jack rode 
back to the ranch. Rusty Pete thought it 
best to remain another night at the shack, 
to be sure there were no other lions molest- 
ing the cattle. 


CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT 

QUEER KITTENS 

Adele, Eva, and Amanda had just re- 
turned from a canter to the sand-hills, when 
Eva exclaimed, “Look, girls! Yonder are 
two horsemen. Do they resemble any one 
you have ever seen before? ” 

“Oh, Eva,” Adele laughed. “You are 
trying to talk like the heroine in the book 
we read last night.” 

“ True,” Eva replied gayly. “ Didn’t the 
English teacher over at the Dorchester In- 
stitute say that was the way to improve? 
Read good books, and then try to talk like 
them.” 

Adele nodded as she replied, “Yonder 
horsemen approach with haste, as though 
they were bearing thither an important mes- 
sage.” 


204 


ON A EANCH 


205 


“ It’s Jack and Donald Dare,” Mandy de- 
clared. “ What do you suppose they have 
in the basket? It must be some wild crea- 
ture. Can’t you hear the growling? ” 

The three girls drew rein and waited. 
“ Why, Jack Doring,” Adele exclaimed. 
“ WTiat have you in your basket? ” 

Jack grinned. “I’ll give you three 
guesses, Sis,” he said. 

“ Well, I should say that you had a whole 
zoo in there, by the snaps and snarls,” Della 
laughingly replied. 

“ Oh, I know,” Eva declared. “ You have 
some coyote babies.” 

“ More exciting than that,” Donald said. 
“ Guess again.” 

“ Not Elsie Slater’s little baby bears 
surely,” Mandy ventured. 

Jack shook his head. “ One more guess,” 
he said. 

“ Let’s see,” Eva began thoughtfully. 
“ What other wild animals do we have for 
neighbors? ” 

“Burros,” Adele suggested. 


206 


ADELE DORING 


“ Burros don’t snarl, and they are too 
long-legged to be put in a basket, even when 
they are babies. Uncle Dick says that once 
in a long while he has seen a mountain lion.” 
Then, looking up with a bright smile at the 
lad who was riding at her side, Eva ex- 
claimed, “ I do believe that I have guessed 
right. Have I, Jack? Are those little 
growling creatures in your basket mountain 
lions? ” 

“ They surely are,” J ack declared. “ You 
have won the prize, Eva.” 

“What is the prize to be?” Mandy 
asked. 

“ One of these kittens, if she wants it, for 
a pet,” Jack replied; and, as they had 
reached the corral, he dismounted and 
opened the gate for the others to ride 
through. When he unstrapped the basket 
and placed it on the ground, the snapping 
and snarling increased within. While the 
boys unsaddled the horses, the girls watched 
it almost fearfully. 

Suddenly Adele gave a cry of alarm. 


ON A RANCH 


207 


“Jack, come quick!” she said. “One of 
the lions is trying to get out.” 

The three girls ran for the fence, and, 
climbing like squirrels, they sat on the top 
rail to watch what would happen. 

The baby lion that was trying to escape 
from the basket was pushed under the 
blanket with a stick, and then Jack looked 
about, as he asked, “ Say, Donald, you don’t 
happen to have a cage or any little thing 
like that, do you, that we could keep our 
wild animals in? ” 

Before Donald could reply, Eva called 
from the fence, “ Oh, Jack, I know where 
there is a fine cage. It is up by Little Lake. 
It was formerly the home of Biddy Cluck 
and her brood, but it is unoccupied now.” 

“ The very thing,” Jack declared, as he 
shouldered the basket. “ Let the procession 
proceed.” 

The girls followed the boys, but hung 
back, ready to fly if a young lion so much 
as poked its nose out of the basket. 

The cage in question was truly a fine one, 


208 


ADELE DOPING 


being no less than a good-sized box, with 
slats nailed over the opening. Donald 
loosened one of these, and Jack, tipping the 
basket against the opening, lifted the 
blanket, and the baby lions, perhaps think- 
ing that the box was their den, darted into 
it and the slat was replaced. 

“ Oh, aren’t they the cunningest things ! ” 
Adele cried, as the three girls, no longer 
afraid, knelt and peered in. 

“ They look exactly like kittens,” Mandy 
declared. “They have such pretty faces. 
They don’t look as though they would grow 
up to be fierce, wild animals.” 

“Let’s keep them,” Eva said. “I think 
if we fed them well and petted them, they 
would soon be quite tame.” 

“Excuse me from being the one to pet 
them,” Mandy declared, as the three baby 
lions snarled and growled at them. 

“Well, you girls may have them to do 
with as you like,” Jack said. “ I am to have 
the skin of the mother-lion. Pete kept it 
out at the shack, and he is going to cure it 


ON A RANCH 


209 


for me. I want to take it back East to show 
Bob and the other boys. I think Fll hang it 
on the wall of my room.” 

“ Bob doesn’t know what fun he is miss- 
ing, does he, Jack? ” Adele inquired. “ We 
surely do have one adventure after another.” 

“And, unless I am very much mistaken, 
we are about to have another,” Jack de- 
clared, standing up and listening intently. 

“ Why, what do you hear? Do you think 
some one is coming? ” Adele asked. 

“ I’m sure of it,” her brother replied, with 
a twinkle in his eyes. The three girls looked 
up toward the mesa trail and down toward 
the corral, but neither horse nor automobile 
was in sight. 

“ You are just joking,” Eva said. “There 
is no one coming.” 

“ No, I’m not joking. Somebody is com- 
ing,” Jack said, winking at Donald. 

Then it was that Adele clapped her hands 
gleefully. “ Oh, I hear it now. Eva, don’t 
you hear that whirring, humming noise? It 
must be Captain Nelson in his airplane.” 


210 


ADELE DORING 


The five young people shaded their eyes and 
gazed up into the gleaming blue. 

“ I see it ! I see it ! ” Eva cried excitedly. 
“ Somebody is waving his cap to us. I hope 
it is Captain Nelson. Oh, good! Here’s 
Uncle Dick ! ” The big airplane was ap- 
proaching rapidly, and the five young people, 
with Uncle Dick following, hurried down to 
the flat place near the corral, where the 
machine had landed before. 


CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE 


A VISITOR FROM THE AIR 

When the airplane landed, they ran to- 
ward it and gladly welcomed the young avi- 
ator who stepped out. 

“ Oh, Captain Nelson,” Adele cried, “ how 
wonderful it must be to have wings like a 
bird and fly wherever you want to go.” 

“And we are so glad you wanted to fly 
over here,” Mr. Dearman said genially, as 
he shook hands with the young man. “We 
thought you had forgotten your promise to 
dine with us soon.” 

“No, indeed, I did not forget,” Captain 
Nelson replied. “ We have been very busy 
at camp. I’ve been hovering over Mexico, 
watching the movements of the Yaqui In- 
dians. I believe they are going to cause us 
some trouble before many moons.” 

Mr. Dearman looked grave as they started 
211 


212 


ADELE POKING 


walking toward the ranch house. “ I have 
often wished of late that our ranch was far- 
ther from the border. It is only twelve 
miles away, and in these troubled times that 
is much too near. But let us talk of some- 
thing else; I do not wish the young people 
to be frightened needlessly.” 

The three girls, who had lingered behind 
to examine the aircraft, now joined them, 
and when the house was reached they 
skipped to the kitchen to assist Senora 
Gabriella in hastening the dinner. 

This was served on the veranda, and the 
young people listened with so much interest 
to the exciting stories the captain told that 
they almost forgot to eat. Bearing in mind 
Mr. Dearman’s wish that the girls should 
not be needlessly frightened by the border 
conditions, the captain said nothing of them. 
As they rose to leave the table, the telephone 
rang, and Eva skipped to the living-room 
to answer it. Then, turning, she called, 
“ Uncle Dick, it is Mr. Slater, and he wishes 
to speak to you.” 


ON A RANCH 


213 


Then, when her uncle had gone to the tele- 
phone, Eva, rejoining the others, said : 
“ Something must have happened over at 
Double Bar ranch. Mr. Slater seemed very 
much excited.” 

“ They are only two miles from the Mex- 
ican border,” Jack remarked; “and if 
rumors are true, they are liable to see some 
fighting before many days. What do you 
think, Captain Nelson? ” 

Before the aviator could reply, Mr. Dear- 
man returned. Eva, noting his troubled ex- 
pression, caught hold of his arm, exclaim- 
ing, “ What is it, Uncle Dick? Is anything 
wrong at Double Bar Ranch? ” 

“I will explain to you later, Eva,” her 
uncle said. “I wish first to consult with 
our guest. Captain Nelson, will you ac- 
company me for a few moments? ” 

“ Willingly,” the young man replied, and 
the two went out to the bench near Little 
Lake. 

“ Mr. Slater just telephoned from Double 
Bar,” Mr. Dearman began, “ and he is very 


214 : 


ADELE DORING 


much troubled by rumors of a band of Yaqui 
Indians that are hiding in the mountains 
across the border and are planning raids on 
the near-by ranches. Of course, Double Bar 
would be the first that they would reach, 
and Mr. Slater does not wish Elsie to remain 
there another night. He says that he cannot 
spare a man to accompany her to our place, 
and he most certainly does not wish her to 
ride alone. He would rather have her meet 
a grizzly bear in the mountain pass than a 
Yaqui Indian. He wanted to know if one of 
our boys would ride over and get her.” 

“ Better still, I will fly over and bring her 
back in short order,” Captain Nelson said. 

“ Good ! ” Mr. Dearman exclaimed, rising. 
“ Then perhaps you had better start at once. 
Not that I wish to hurry a guest, but the 
need may be very urgent. I do not wish to 
alarm the girls, so I will tell them only part 
of the truth, but I must tell the boys, for, 
since we are only twelve miles from the bor- 
der, we may need to be on the alert our- 
selves.” 


ON A RANCH 


215 


“ I doubt if a Yaqui Indian would venture 
this far, Mr. Dearman,” the young aviator 
said ; “ but Double Bar Ranch is liable to be 
visited any night, I do believe.” 

Mr. Dearman, seeing the two cowboys 
about to start for the corral, called to them, 
and in quiet tones explained just what had 
happened. When he had finished, the 
aviator said, “ Jack, if you wish, you may 
accompany me to Double Bar. That is, if 
Mr. Dearman can spare you.” 

“ Yes, indeed, take the lad,” the older man 
said. Then, turning toward the veranda 
where the three girls sat with their sew- 
ing, Mr. Dearman called, “Eva, the cap- 
tain is going to fly. You and the girls 
come down and watch him spread his 
wings.” 

“ Oh, Captain Nelson ! ” Eva exclaimed 
regretfully. “I did hope you were going 
to stay longer. You did not even finish 
that interesting story you were telling 
us.” 

The young aviator smiled. He had sis- 


216 


ADELE DORING 


ters of his own, and this group made him 
think of that happy home so far away. 

“We shall he hack directly,” he said. 
“ Jack and I are going on only a short flight, 
and sometime I intend to take you girls for 
a ride to the clouds if you would not be 
afraid.” 

“ Of course we wouldn’t be afraid,” Della 
declared. 

They had been approaching the corral as 
they talked. Jack and the captain took 
their places, machinery began to whir, and 
a few moments later, graceful as a bird, the 
big airplane soared over the mountains to- 
ward Double Bar Ranch. 

“ What can it all mean? ” Eva wondered, 
as she and the two girls returned to the 
veranda. Her uncle had said nothing to 
her about the mission upon which the cap- 
tain had departed. 

At Double Bar Elsie was busily occupied 
with her housekeeping duties, when she 
heard a strange, whirring noise. Hurrying 
to the porch, she saw the airplane descend- 


ON A RANCH 


217 


in g, and a moment later lier father and uncle 
were welcoming two men. She recognized 
Jack at once. 

Mr. Tom Slater was indeed glad to have 
an opportunity to send Elsie away. “ I feel 
so worried that I can’t bear to have her on 
the place another night/’ he told the new- 
comers. 

“You are right, Mr. Slater,” the young 
aviator said seriously. “ I saw only yester- 
day a band of Yaqui Indians making for 
the mountains just south of here. Person- 
ally, I think that some of our soldiers ought 
to be encamped at this spot, and I will re- 
port the matter to the colonel as soon as I 
return to headquarters at Douglas.” 

“ Here comes Elsie now,” Mr. Slater said 
quickly. “I am merely going to tell her 
that she is to go to Bar X for a week’s visit.” 

When the girl heard this she was over- 
joyed. 

“ Oh, Papa Tom,” she said as she threw 
her arms about her devoted father, “how 
can you get on a whole week without me to 


218 ADELE DORING 

fry your bacon and eggs and — and every- 
thing? ” 

Her father laughed as he said : “ How do 
you suppose I got on while you were away at 
boarding school? A week will pass quickly, 
and I know that you are just pining for the 
company of those three girl neighbors of 
ours.” 

“ Right you are, Daddy dear. And wasn’t 
it good of them to ask me over again so 
soon? Wouldn’t it be better, though, for 
me to have them come over here for a week 
first? It would be manners, you know, for 
I was there last.” 

“ You may have them some other time,” 
her father said hurriedly. “ Now skip along 
and toss what you need into your bag, for 
the captain here is eager to get back to 
Douglas.” 

Elsie, suspecting not at all the real reason 
for her hasty departure, skipped gayly into 
the house to make ready for her aerial jour- 
ney. She had never ridden in an aircraft, 
and she was delighted to have the oppor- 


ON A RANCH 


219 


tunity. She clung fast to Jack’s arm as the 
big machine took to the air. Then she 
waved her handkerchief to the men below, 
who were rapidly growing so small that at 
last they were mere specks, then vanished 
altogether, and Elsie looked above and 
about her at the shining blue. Before she 
recovered from her awe, Bar X was below 
them, and the big machine, circling about, 
was slowly descending earthward. 


CHAPTER THIRTY 


TROUBLESOME RUMOES 

The three girls, still seated with their 
sewing on the veranda of Bar X, ran to greet 
the returning aviators, little dreaming that 
their loved Elsie Slater was a passenger in 
the descending craft. 

Eva, shading her eyes, looked up. “I 
think there are three persons in the machine 
now.” 

“ Yes, there are,” Adele declared, “ and I 
do believe that one is a girl. Who can 
it be? ” 

“It must be Elsie Slater,” Mandy had 
just said, when the machine, skimming over 
the ground toward them, came to a stand- 
still, and then they knew for sure that their 
surmise had been correct. 

“ Oh, you darling Elsie Slater ! ” Eva 
cried. “ How glad we are to see you ! ” 

220 


ON A RANCH 


221 


Elsie looked puzzled. “ Why, didn’t you 
know I was coming? ” she inquired. “ I 
thought that you had invited me to spend a 
week.” 

Luckily Mr. Dearman came up just then, 
and he hastily exclaimed, “ I was the one 
who sent the invitation, Elsie. I wanted to 
surprise the girls.” 

“ Oh, Uncle Dick ! ” Eva cried. “ You are 
always doing something to make us happy. 
We would rather have a visit from Elsie 
than anything that we could think of.” 

Jack lifted the girl’s hag and was about 
to climb out himself when Captain Nelson 
said, “Mr. Dearman, if you can spare Jack 
for a day or two, I would like to take him 
back to Douglas with me.” 

“Indeed he may go,” Mr. Dearman re- 
plied. “We are to brand the young calves 
over in the valley pasture to-morrow, and 
Jack doesn’t take to that occupation any too 
kindly, so I am just as well pleased to have 
him out of the way. He thinks he is a dyed- 
in-the-wool cowboy by now, but when a little 


222 


ADELE DORING 


calf begs not to be branded, he finds that he 
is still a tenderfoot at heart.” 

“You are right, Mr. Dearman,” the boy- 
said. “ I do wish that some other way could 
be invented for marking the little creatures.” 

Eva, suspecting that her uncle would like 
to speak alone with Captain Nelson, bade 
the aviator and Jack good-by, as did the 
other girls, and then they returned to the 
ranch house. Mr. Dearman was indeed glad 
of this opportunity, and what he heard did 
not in any way lessen his fears. 

“ I am going to suggest that a guard be 
sent at once to Double Bar from the Doug- 
las camp,” the young aviator said. And 
then, waving their caps and starting the 
machinery, he and Jack were soon up in the 
gleaming blue. 

That night the four girls retired to their 
adjoining rooms, and after sitting for a time 
in front of Eva’s fireplace, on which a mes- 
quite root crackled, they at last slipped off 
their kimonos and nestled in their beds. 
They did not know that down at the bunk- 


ON A RANCH 


223 


house the men were holding a conference. 
Suddenly Eva was awakened by the ringing 
of the telephone. She sat up and listened, 
but did not attempt to answer it, as her 
uncle did so when it rang at night. But the 
bunk-house door was closed to exclude the 
light, and so Mr. Dearman did not hear. 
After a silence, the bell rang again. 

“ What is it? ” Adele asked, sitting up. 

“It’s the telephone,” Eva replied. “It 
keeps ringing, and I do not understand why 
Uncle Dick does not answer it.” 

Rising, she lighted the lamp and looked 
at the clock. “It is just midnight,” she 
said. “Perhaps Uncle Dick is sound asleep. 
I would better answer it, for when a tele- 
phone rings so late at night, it must be some- 
thing important.” 

Eva was slipping on her kimono. Elsie, 
Mandy, and Adele appeared in the doorway, 
and the four girls went to the living-room. 
Mandy lighted the big lamp on the table 
while Eva answered the ’phone. 

Just at that moment the outer door opened 


224 : 


ADELE DOPING 


and Mr. Dearman appeared. He looked 
troubled when he saw the four girls. “ Oh, 
did the telephone ring? ” he asked as he hur- 
ried to take the receiver. 

“ Please go back to bed, girls,” he added 
in a tone that Eva had not heard before. 
They at once obeyed, wondering, more 
than ever, what all the mystery might 
mean. 

Then, when the girls were gone, Mr. Dear- 
man turned to the telephone to receive Mr. 
Slater’s message, which was that a cowboy 
had just ridden to Double Bar in all haste 
with the news that about a dozen Yaquis had 
been seen riding toward Bar X. 

“ I cannot understand what it means,” 
Mr. Slater said, “ but it may be only a trick. 
They may plan to circle around and later 
attack here, but anyway you’d better keep 
awake. ” 

Mr. Dearman’s heart was heavy as he 
turned from the telephone. There were four 
girls and two Mexican women in the house 
and only three men to defend them. He 


ON A EANCH 


225 


had sent to the pasture earlier in the even- 
ing for Pete. 

As soon as her uncle had returned to the 
bunk-house, Eva sat up. “ Girls,” she said, 
“ are any of you asleep? ” 

Elsie and Mandy hurried in from their 
room. “Indeed, no!” Elsie replied. “I 
feel so sure that something is wrong, I can- 
not sleep a wink.” 

“I feel the same way,” Eva declared. 
“ Suppose we dress in our riding-habits and 
sit up until we know what the mystery is.” 

It was lucky that they did this, for just 
as the east was turning gray with the com- 
ing of dawn, Donald Dare galloped up from 
the bunk-house, leading four ponies. The 
girls ran out on the veranda to meet him, 
and he was relieved to find that they were 
already dressed. 

“What is it, Donald?” Eva exclaimed 
anxiously. 

“ Yaquis,” the cowboy replied, as he 
pointed across the dry creek toward the 
south. The girls looked and saw silhouetted 


ADELE DORING 


against the gray sky possibly a dozen horse- 
men headed in their direction. 

Eva’s face was very pale, but she asked 
calmly, “What are we to do, Donald?” 

“ Circle around the sand-hills, keeping 
hidden as much as possible, and then gallop 
for Silver Creek Junction,” the lad told 
them. “ Tell Mr. Wells to come in all haste 
with his men to help us, and you four stay 
with Mrs. Wells at the station until we send 
for you.” 

The girls, Elsie in the lead, galloped away 
on a trail leading not over the mesa, where 
they would have been plainly seen, but 
around the sand-hills and down to Silver 
Creek, where they were soon sheltered by 
steep, high banks. Not until they knew that 
they were safe did they venture to talk in 
low tones. 

“Do you suppose those horsemen really 
were Yaquis?” Adele asked, as she rode 
close to Eva. 

“ I sincerely hope not,” the other replied. 
“ They are so cruel and lawless. Of course 


ON A EANCH 


227 


the riders may not have been Indians at all. 
They were too far away for Uncle Dick to be 
sure, but Mr. Slater telephoned, you know, 
that a small band of Indians had been seen 
entering the pass, headed our way.” 

“ But Eva,” Adele inquired, “ why didn’t 
we telephone to Silver Creek Junction or to 
Douglas for help? ” 

“ Because we have no connection with 
either place,” Eva replied. “ Uncle Dick 
and Mr. Slater strung the wires between our 
two ranches that they might call each other 
in just such a time as this, when either of 
them might be in trouble and need help.” 

Suddenly Elsie, who was in the lead, drew 
rein, and, turning in her saddle, she beckoned 
the others to ride close. Her pale face 
showed that she realized more than they did 
that they might be in danger. 

“ Girls,” she said very quietly, “ the creek 
curves just beyond here, as you know, and 
winds close to the mountains. If the In- 
dians have stationed a sentinel there, we will 
be plainly seen. I think we would better 


228 


ADELE DORING 


dismount and lead our horses as close to the 
left bank as possible, and in that way we 
may escape observation.” 

“ We will do whatever you suggest,” Eva 
replied. “ You have lived on the desert for 
so long that I know we can rely upon your 
judgment.” 

Dismounting, and each leading her pony, 
the four girls crept along close to the bank. 
Adele, the Eastern girl, unused to adventure 
in her daily life, felt strangely unreal, as 
though she were a character in a book she 
was reading. But not so Elsie. She knew 
that in the troublous times they were hav- 
ing on the border, they were all in real 
danger, for a Yaqui shows no pity. 

Suddenly she paused, and, holding up one 
hand to the others, she listened intently. 
Ahead of them, on the bank, huge bowlders 
were lying, as though they had been flung 
there from the mountain by giant hands. 

Elsie, whose desert-trained ears had heard 
a sound beyond those rocks, was listening in- 
tently. Then, convinced that some one was 


ON A RANCH 


229 


there in hiding, she leaped to her pony’s hack, 
and, whirling it about toward Bar X, she 
motioned the other girls to do the same. Eva 
and Adele were soon on their ponies, but, 
unfortunately for Mandy, her saddle slipped 
and she could not mount. Then, to their 
surprise and great relief, there was a joyous 
shout from behind the pile of rocks, and the 
Indian, for a real Indian it was, leaped out 
and called: “ Winona! Winona! Look! 
Here’s the pretty lady ! ” 

It was little Red Feather, the seven-year- 
old Papago boy whom Mandy had one time 
saved from the raging torrent. 

So great was the relief of the girls that 
they almost cried, and then, around the 
rocks, came that beautiful Indian girl, 
Winona. You will remember that she had 
been educated in a mission school, and that 
Eva and Mandy had been much pleased with 
her when they had met her near the water- 
hole in the spring. 

Red Feather clambered down the steep 
bank, and, graceful as a gazelle, Winona 


230 


ADELE DOPING 


followed. Eva and Mandy held out their 
hands and warmly welcomed this dusky In- 
dian girl whom they had so hoped to meet 
again. 

“ I’ve been wishing that you’d ride back 
this way some time,” Winona said, “ and so 
has Red Feather. He talks so much about 
the ‘ pretty lady ’ who pulled him out of the 
wild water.” 

Impulsively Mandy stooped and caught 
the little fellow in her arms. She had sud- 
denly remembered how near they had come 
to drowning, and it made her feel strangely 
akin to the little Papago Indian boy. 

A moment later Elsie exclaimed, “But, 
girls, we have entirely forgotten our mis- 
sion.” Then, turning to Winona, she added : 
“ There has been trouble, as you know, on 
the border lately and we are very much 
afraid of the Mexican Yaquis. We just 
heard that a band of them came through the 
mountain pass this morning, headed for 
Bar X Ranch. Have you seen anything of 
them, Winona? ” 



Then, around the rocks, came that beautiful Indian girl. 

Page 229. 












? 










ON A KANCH 


231 


The Indian girl smiled reassuringly. 
“ No, they were not the Yaquis,” she replied. 
“ It was Gray Hawk, our Papago chief, with 
several of our young men. We have been 
hunting in Sonora since the spring, but it 
wasn’t safe even for us down there, and so 
we are on the way back to our village in the 
Chiricahui Mountains.” Then, pointing to 
a clump of creosote-bushes, Winona added, 
“ We are camping over there for a while.” 

The girls, looking in that direction, saw a 
thin line of smoke curving skyward. 
Winona saw it, too, and for a moment she 
watched it intently. The smoke seemed to 
be waving, as though it were being fanned. 

“ That is our method of sending messages 
to one another,” Winona explained with a 
smile. “They are telling me to return in 
haste, as they have decided to break camp 
and continue on our journey. We will pass 
near your ranch, and so I may see you 
again.” 

“ Then we will not say good-by,” Eva told 
her. 


232 


ADELE DORING 


When Winona and Red Feather were gone 
on their way, the four girls turned their 
ponies toward Bax X. Mr. Dearman was 
surprised to see them and was indeed glad 
to hear their good news, for the Papago In- 
dians were fiends. “Ride out and meet 
them,” he said^to Pete, “ and bid them come 
here and dine with us. Eva, lassie, you tell 
Senora Gabriella to prepare for a dozen 
hungry guests.” 

How queer it all seemed to Adele, the 
Eastern girl. How she wished that the 
Sunny Six might know that she was about 
to dine with Papago Indians. 

Adele little dreamed that something very 
much more exciting was about to happen. 


CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE 


WONDERFUL NEWS 

The week following the visit of the 
Papago Indians had been a happy one for 
the four girls. Captain Nelson, having re- 
turned with Jack from Douglas, informed 
them that the danger of a raid was past, 
for a company of soldiers had been stationed 
on the border, near the Slater ranch. And 
then he added, with his pleasant smile, 
“And I, in my good ship of the air, will keep 
a constant outlook, and will warn the camp 
if there is an uprising in Sonora, so you 
young people may ride where you will with- 
out fear of being molested.” 

Elsie, as had been her plan, stayed a week, 
and then, with J ack as escort, she rode back 
to Double Bar ranch, telling the girls that 
they must come soon to return her visit. 

They said that they surely would, but before 
233 


234 


ADELE DOBING 


they had carried out this plan, something 
happened which made them forget all else 
for a time. 

Jack and Donald Dare had been riding 
the range near Douglas, turning back the 
Bar X cattle that had strayed in that direc- 
tion. On their return they came galloping 
down the mesa trail, firing shots into the 
air. The girls ran out of the house, fearing 
that the Yaquis were upon them, but when 
they saw the boys, Adele exclaimed, “ Oh, 
Jack, how could you frighten us that way? ” 
Then she added, when she saw her brother’s 
glowing face: “ Oh, Jackie! You have 
some news for us. What is it? ” 

“ I sure have ! ” that lad replied. “ Della, 
you never can guess what is going to arrive 
to-day.” 

“ Oh, Buddie ! ” Adele cried eagerly. “ Is 
it coming in an aircraft? ” 

“No,” Jack replied mysteriously. “It’s 
coming in a box.” 

“ Why, then, it must be a present, — candy 
or something like that,” Adele surmised. 


ON A RANCH 


235 


" No,” Jack replied. “ You’re just ever 
so cold. The box I mean rolls along on 
wheels.” 

“ Oh, I believe I know,” Eva exclaimed. 
“Am I allowed to guess? ” 

“ Of course you are,” Della declared. 

“ Maybe Jack means a box car,” Eva said. 

“ Getting warmer,” that youth chanted. 
“But there, I won’t keep you in suspense 
any longer,” he added. “Here is a letter 
that will tell you all about it.” 

Adele took the letter, and, with a joyful 
exclamation, she cried : “ Oh, Eva, it’s from 
Bob Angel. Let’s all sit down on the steps 
and I’ll read it aloud to you.” 

This done, Adele began : 


“Hello, Rattlesnake Jack! 

“ Here’s some news for you ! A great 
and grand and glorious thing has happened, 
and the girls have asked me to write and 
tell you about it. Well, to begin at the be- 
ginning, Doris Drexel’s father, who, as you 
know, is a rich banker over in Dorchester, 
has recently acquired some mining property 
in Bisbee, Arizona, and next week he starts 


236 


ADELE DORING 


thitherward to inspect his new possessions. 
He is planning to travel in the company’s 
private car, and, if there happens to be room 
in it for a few small and unimportant per- 
sons, he told Doris that she might ask some 
of her friends to accompany them. Haven’t 
heard yet whether there is going to be room 
enough for the ‘ angels,’ but if there is, you 
will soon hear the fluttering of their wings. 

“ Say, Jack, old man, you have no idea 
how wild I am to try riding a bucking 
broncho. Well, here’s hoping that there’ll 
be room in the banker’s private car for yours 
truly, 

“ Bob Angel." 

“ But, Jack,’’ Adele exclaimed, “I thought 
you said something was going to happen 
to-day." 

“ So it is," her brother gleefully declared. 
“ I had a telegram from Bob this morning, 
and here comes the equipage that is to take 
us to the station," he added. 

Adele’s joy knew no bounds when she 
heard that her dearly loved friends from the 
far-away East were about to visit the desert. 
How she did hope that Gertrude Willis 
would be among them, for, much as she 


ON A RANCH 237 

loved them all, Gertrude was a little nearer 
and dearer to her than the rest. 

The equipage which was to take them to 
the station rolled up from the corral, and 
the girls laughed gayly when they saw it, for 
it was no other than the great lumbering 
hayrack which was used each early summer 
to bring the cut grass from the valley 
pasture. 

Four horses were pulling it, and Donald 
Dare was driving and snapping a long 
whip. The girls climbed in and sat on the 
straw-covered bottom, while Jack and 
Rusty Pete rode alongside on their lively 
ponies. 

“ I’m so glad that we have on our cowgirl 
suits,” Adele exclaimed, as they rumbled up 
the mesa trail. 

“And Pete and I have blank cartridges in 
our guns,” Jack chuckled. “We want to 
impress these tenderfoot Easterners when 
they arrive. All they know about the West 
is what they have seen in moving pictures, 
and it never would do to disappoint them^ 


238 


ADELE DOBING 


We have several fine plans to keep them 
startled, haven’t we, Pete, old man?” Jack 
added, with a wink at the cowboy. 

It was eight miles to the Silver Creek 
Junction, where Jack had wired Bob that 
he would meet them. The train was just 
slowing down as they approached, and Jack 
and Pete, galloping alongside, fired shots 
into the air. A dozen startled faces ap- 
peared in the windows, and among them 
Adele saw several of her friends. Bob was 
the first to alight, and Jack, whirling a lasso, 
caught the surprised boy around the waist 
and pulled him over toward his horse. 
Bob’s pleasant, freckled face beamed with 
pleasure. 

“ Well, Jack, old pal, I swan ! Surely my 
eyes don’t see straight ! That can’t be 
you ! ” Bob cried in admiration mingled with 
amazement. And no wonder he was sur- 
prised, for back East he had known Jack as 
an indolent, easy-going fellow who didn’t 
care to play football because it was too much 
of an effort, and who would never wear over- 


ON A RANCH 239 

alls, and had more new neckties each year 
than all the other boys put together. 

Jack leaped from his horse and gave Bob 
a royal welcome. Then he turned to meet 
the three other lads who were in the party. 
In the meantime the girls who had come 
were being hugged, and even laughed and 
cried over ; for when Adele found that Ger- 
trude Willis was really among them, she 
clung to her with tears rolling down her 
cheeks, as she whispered, “ I don’t know 
why I cry, Trudie dear, unless it is because 
you make me think so much of Mother. I 
guess maybe I’m beginning to be pretty 
homesick to see my dear, darling Mumsie. 
It’s three months since I came here; but 
there, I must remember that I am a Sunny- 
sider.” 

Peggy Pierce, Betty Burd, Bertha Angel, 
Rosamond Wright, and, of course, Doris 
Drexel, were in the party; and after 
Adele had hugged them all they climbed into 
the queer equipage, which then rumbled on 
its way back over the desert. When they 


240 


ADELE DOBING 


readied the top of the mesa trail the East- 
erners uttered exclamations of delight, for 
the ranch house, with Little Lake, sur- 
rounded by trees, was indeed a pretty sight 
out there on the wide, gleaming desert. 

They were welcomed a moment later by 
Uncle Dick, who said that he wanted them 
all to feel, while they were there, that the 
Bar X ranch was their very own home, and 
that they could do just anything that they 
pleased. 

“ The ponies in the small pasture yonder 
are for your use, and you may each choose 
one to ride,” he added. 

The young people looked in the direction 
that Uncle Dick had indicated, and saw, in a 
fenced enclosure, a dozen cow ponies. One 
among them, a lively young broncho, was 
entertaining the rest by galloping madly 
around and then stopping to kick up his 
heels. 

“ I choose him for mine,” Bob said. 

The cowboys laughed. They anticipated 
some fun when Tenderfoot Bob tried to ride 


ON A RANCH 


241 


the broncho of his choice, but they did not 
begin to anticipate it as much as Bob did. 
He wanted to try riding the pony at once, 
but Senora Gabriella appeared in the door- 
way and announced that supper was ready, 
and so Jack led the boys to the bunk-house 
to wash, while Adele took the girls to their 
rooms in the ranch house. 


CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO 

BOB COMES TO THE FRONT 

Early the next morning the young people 
were up and dressed in the old clothes that 
they had brought for roughing it on the 
desert. 

“ How still it is ! ” Rosamond said, as the 
girls stood on the veranda, watching the 
boys wrangle the ponies. 

“Adele, didn’t it seem queer to you w T hen 
you first came, not having a neighbor’s house 
anywhere in sight? ” Betty Burd asked. 

“ It did, indeed,” Adele replied, “ and for 
a time it was a lonely feeling. But now, 
when I go back to Sunnyside and have neigh- 
bors only a stone’s throw on either side of 
me, I am sure that I shall feel smothered 
and crowded.” 

“ When you feel that way,” Bertha Angel 
242 


ON A RANCH 


243 


laughingly declared, “ we’ll have to go out 
to our log cabin in Buttercup Meadows.” 

“ Oh, girls ! Does it look just the same 
as it did? ” Adele asked. “Are the butter- 
cups thick and pretty this year? ” 

“ I was over there the day before we came 
away,” Gertrude replied, putting her arm 
around her friend’s waist, “ and in the sun- 
shine the meadow looked just like a sheet of 
gold.” 

“ I’d love to see it before the buttercups 
have all faded,” Adele said rather wistfully 
as she and Gertrude walked down toward 
Little Lake. “ I’ve had such a wonderful 
time, Trudie, here on the desert, and I 
haven’t been a bit homesick until you came. 
Now I’m sort of wishing that I was going 
back with you all in the private car next 
week, but Mumsie wouldn’t be there, and 
that would make me lonelier than ever.” 

“Della! Gertrude! Come on! The pro- 
cession is about to proceed ! ” Bob called, 
making a trumpet of his hands. So the two 
girls who loved each other so dearly turned 


244 


ADELE DORING 


back to join tbe others, and Della tried to 
throw off her wistful home-longing and be 
merry with the others. 

“ This is a circus,” Jack declared, “ and 
I am the ringmaster. The first act will be 
broncho-busting by Bob Angel, tenderfoot. 
Make the circle bigger, ladies and gentle- 
men, and give the broncho plenty of room in 
which to buck.” 

The laughing crowd of young people stood 
back while Rusty led the liveliest pony blind- 
folded into their midst. 

“Now, Bob,” he called, “I’ll hold him 
until you are on.” 

Boldly Bob gave a leap and landed on the 
back of the cow pony. This was a signal for 
it to rear and plunge and try to throw its 
rider. 

“ Hold on tight! ” Jack shouted. 

Bob, with his arms around the pony’s 
neck, followed Jack’s directions. It surely 
was a wild ride that he had. Part of the 
time the pony seemed to be trying to stand 
on its head, and again it actually walked 


ON A RANCH 


245 


on its hind legs, but like a burr Bob stuck 
on. 

“That’s great sport,” the boy declared 
when he was again on terra firma, “ but, for 
straight-ahead riding I guess I will choose 
another pony.” This he did, and a few mo- 
ments later the merry party started on a 
gallop over the wide, smooth Silver Creek 
trail. 

The Eastern boys, not content with the 
jogging pace the girls had set, galloped over 
the sun-baked sand and were soon out of 
sight beyond the low hills. Adele and Ger- 
trude, who were happy just to be alone to- 
gether, rode along slowly, side by side, and 
were soon far back of the others. 

“Della,” Gertrude was saying, “how 
wonderfully well Amanda Brown rides, 
doesn’t she? I never saw such a change in 
a girl. You know, when we first found her 
in the Sunnyside orphanage she looked so 
cross and fretful. We never even thought 
that she was pretty then, but now her face 
is simply glowing with happiness, and sev- 


246 


ADELE DOBING 


eral times I have heard her joyously sing- 
ing in that sweet, bird-like voice of hers.” 

“ I have noticed it, too,” Adele said, “ and 
she is constantly thinking of loving things 
to do, especially for Eva and Uncle Dick. 
She is so grateful to them for having brought 
her out here on the desert, away from the 
orphanage. We all love Amanda dearly, 
and as for Rusty Pete, I do believe that he 
thinks she is the most wonderful girl that 
ever lived. He said to me one day, ‘Miss 
Adele, there’s many a man wouldn’t have 
done the brave deed that slip of a girl did 
when she faced a mountain torrent to save 
a mere Indian boy.’ ” 

“ Which is Rusty Pete?” Gertrude in- 
quired. 

“ The cowboy who is riding at Amanda’s 
side,” Adele had just replied, when Ger- 
trude, drawing rein, suddenly exclaimed, 
“ Hark ! What is that noise? ” 

The others also heard it, and turned to 
look back. Rusty Pete, with his desert- 
trained ears, was not long in doubt, and, 


ON A RANCH 


247 


speaking quickly to Mandy, he whirled his 
pony and galloped back, shading his eyes 
and gazing across the shimmering sand. 
Then the girls saw a wide and dense cloud 
of sand that was being hurled toward them, 
and the noise, which grew louder with each 
passing second, Rusty knew to be the thud 
of many madly galloping feet. 

“A stampede ! ” he cried. “ Make for the 
hills, every one.” 

The Eastern girls, not even knowing what 
a stampede might be, did as they were told. 
Their ponies, sensing danger, needed no 
urging, but galloped toward the sand-hills. 
When they had reached a high place, the 
girls dismounted and watched the herd of 
wild, frightened cattle which surged madly 
along. Then suddenly they saw something 
which struck terror to their hearts. 

The Eastern boys, Bob and Jack in the 
lead, had galloped ahead of the others and 
were soon out of sight around the low sand- 
hills. Suddenly Jack drew rein and listened 
intently. 


248 


ADELE DORING 


“ Bob,” he said, “ do you hear a rumbling 
noise, like distant thunder?” 

“ Yes, I do,” Bob replied. “ What do you 
think it is? ” 

“A cloudburst in the mountains, like as 
not,” J ack surmised. “ I have heard Rusty 
Pete describe the one they had last spring, 
and yet I did not suppose that they came at 
this time of the year. Let’s ride back and 
ask Rusty what he thinks it is.” 

The two tenderfoot lads, little dreaming 
of danger, galloped back toward Silver 
Creek. Bob was in the lead, and as his pony 
whirled around the hill he was thrown to 
the ground, directly in front of the fright- 
ened and maddened herd of cattle. Jack, 
with a cry of terror, drew rein so suddenly 
that his horse reared and walked backwards 
on its hind legs. That alone saved him from 
poor Bob’s fate. 

On the hill Donald and the girls had seen 
what had happened, and when the cattle had 
passed they galloped down to the spot where 
Bob had fallen, expecting to find him 


ON A RANCH 


249 


trodden to death ; but fate had been kind to 
him, for he had been thrown close to a giant 
cactus, bristling with thorns, which threat- 
ened destruction to the man or beast who 
came too near. The mass of cattle had 
swerved and passed it by. 

Jack lifted Bob, wdio had been stunned 
by the fall, and who, when he was quite re- 
covered, exclaimed merrily, “Well, Jack, is 
this the way you initiate your friends into 
the Wild West fraternity? ” 

“ Oh, Bob,” Bertha sobbed, clinging to her 
brother, “ I do believe that I am much more 
scared than you are.” 

“ But, Bertha, Bob isn’t hurt,” Adele said. 
“ If he were, he wouldn’t joke that way.” 

“ Oh, yes, he would,” Bertha declared 
tearfully. “Bob would joke at his own 
funeral.” 

“ I’m all right, Sis, honest Injun, I am,” 
Bob declared. “And, now that it’s all over, 
I’m glad that it happened. J ack and I will 
have great adventures to tell the fellows 
back home, won’t we, old man? ” 


250 


ADELE DORING 


“That we will,” Jack replied, realizing 
that Bob was trying to make light of his 
recent danger for the sake of the girls. 
“ I’ll tell you what, they call me Rattlesnake 
Jack, and we’ll have to name you Stampede 
Bob.” 

“ Something tells me that we had better 
go home,” Eva said, trying to speak merrily. 
“ Who knows but that the cattle may take a 
notion to return? ” 

“ Where do you suppose they came 
from?” Jack asked Pete when they were 
again in their saddles, riding toward the 
Bar X. 

“They were being rounded up over at 
Slater’s, and some little thing happened 
which frightened them. They will run until 
they are tired, and then they will stop to 
rest and graze; and when the cowboys find 
them, they will be ready to come back quite 
peaceably.” 

“ Can’t we fellows go to the round-up? ” 
Bob inquired. “I’d like right well to see 
how it is done. I’ve read about it so often.” 


ON A EANCH 


251 


“And, oh, please do take us, too,” Bertha 
implored. 

All the girls declared that they would 
like to go, so, when they reached home, Mr. 
Dearman’s consent was obtained and they 
looked eagerly forward to the next day, 
when, for the first time, they would witness 
a really, truly round-up. 


CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE 


THE BOUND-UP 

It was just before dawn when there came 
a light rap-tap-tap on the door of Eva’s 
room. 

Springing up, she asked, “What is it, 
Uncle Dick? ” 

“If you girls are going with us to the 
round-up,” her uncle replied, “you must 
make haste, for we shall be in the saddle in 
less than an hour.” 

“ We’ll be ready ! ” Eva responded. 

Adele sat up in bed and sleepily rubbed 
her eyes. “ Is it morning yet? ” she asked 
wonderingly. 

“The sun isn’t up,” Eva gayly replied, 
“ but the daughters must be if they want to 
go to the round-up.” 

“ Ohee !” Adele called gayly, as she sprang 
252 


ON A EANCH 


253 


out of bed. “ This particular daughter 
wouldn’t miss that round-up for worlds.” 

Eva, slipping on her kimono, went out 
into the living-room and tapped on the other 
bedroom doors, bidding the girls make haste 
to dress. 

Fifteen minutes later, just as the sun was 
flaming the east with gold and rose, nine 
maidens, not yet wide-awake, went out to 
the veranda breakfast-room. They found 
that the men had finished, and were down at 
the corral, saddling the many ponies that 
would be required to take such a large party 
across the desert. 

Soon the girls were trooping in that direc- 
tion, the ponies were mounted, and away 
they started, the men in the lead. 

i( Oh, Della,” Gertrude cried with enthusi- 
asm, “ is there another place anywhere that 
has such wonderful early mornings? The 
air is so crispy cool, and it fairly sparkles ! ” 

“ Isn’t it glorious ! ” Adele replied with a 
radiant smile. “ And if it wasn’t for Mum- 


254 


ADELE DORING 


sie and Daddy, I don’t believe that I would 
ever be tempted to go back East again.” 

They reached the steep trail that led 
down into the dry creek-bottom. Peggy 
Pierce was at the end of the long line, and 
they had all ascended the other bank when 
they heard her calling. Turning, they were 
surprised to see that she had not ridden 
down the embankment. 

“ Oh, girls,” Peggy cried timidly, “ I don’t 
dare to go down that steep trail. I don’t 
see how you dared do it ! ” 

Rusty Pete rode back to the creek-bottom 
and said reassuringly, “Now, Miss Peggy, 
you don’t have to do anything. Just sit 
still and let your pony do the doing. Come 
on, Browny, ” he added coaxingly. 

That small brown horse was one of 
Rusty’s “ string,” and so it immediately be- 
gan picking its way carefully down the 
truly steep trail, while Peggy Pierce, after 
giving one terrorized gasp, screwed her eyes 
tight shut until she had safely descended. 

When they were all up on the level desert 


ON A RANCH 


255 


trail, which stretched ahead for several 
miles to the Bald Mountains, Eva called, 
“ Girls, let’s race to the giant cactus ! ” 

Such a glorious ride as they had! Eva 
won, and soon thereafter they entered the 
canyon where Elsie Slater had met the bear. 
Jack pointed out the rocky ledge where 
she had tried to hide, and the girls shud- 
dered when they thought of her narrow 
escape. 

“ I wish a bear would come along now,” 
Bertha declared. “We are well protected, 
and I would like to meet Bruin in his native 
haunt.” 

The canyon was not a long one, and as 
soon as they were in the open again, they 
sighted the Double Bar ranch, which the 
three girls had so long planned to visit. 

Elsie saw them coming, and was out on 
the veranda to welcome them. She was 
waving the very red silk handkerchief which 
had been such a mystery at one time. When 
the gay cavalcade galloped up to the ranch 
house, Elsie ran down with shining eyes, 


J 


256 


ADELE DORING 


and Mr. Daniel Moore followed close behind 
her. 

“ Oh, Mr. Moore, I am so glad to see you 
again,” Adele called as she leaped from her 
pony. “ Girls ! This is the nice man who 
piloted Jack and me across that terrible 
Chicago. I wrote you all about him.” 

Mr. Moore acknowledged this general in- 
troduction, and assisted the young people to 
alight. Then Elsie led them into the ranch 
house, which was very like Bar X. 

“ Oh, girls,” she cried joyously, “ you 
can’t guess how glad I am that you all came 
over ; but I am going to be just terribly busy 
this morning, for there is no telling when 
the cattle will be driven in, and we are to 
have twenty cowboys to dinner. Mrs. Dick- 
son and Mrs. Darkus are here helping me, 
and Uncle Tim and Uncle Daniel Moore are 
barbecuing a young steer. Come on out in 
the kitchen and watch us if you want to. I 
am just getting the potatoes ready to 
boil.” 

Elsie led the way to a very large kitchen, 


ON A KANCH 


257 


where the three girls who knew Mrs. Dick- 
son and Mrs. Darkus greeted them cordially, 
and Elsie introduced the others. 

Then Adele exclaimed, “ Elsie Slater, do 
you mean to say that you are going to boil 
that whole bushel of potatoes? ” 

“Every one of them,” that young lady 
laughingly replied. Then, rolling up her 
sleeves and taking a brush, she began to 
scour the vegetables mentioned. 

“ Give me an apron and a brush,” Adele 
begged. “ I want to help. Isn’t there 
something the other girls can do? I know 
they would rather be useful than orna- 
mental.” 

“ There is, indeed, if they really want to 
work,” Elsie replied. “Uncle Daniel has 
made a long table with saw-horses and 
boards and it stands just outside the kitchen- 
door, in the shade of the house. If some of 
you will set it, that will help a lot. Mrs. 
Darkus will show you where the roll of oil- 
cloth is, and the round-up dishes. You know 
we have this big party twice a year,” Elsie 


258 


ADELE DORING 


added, “and so we have special things to 
use at that time.” 

Soon every one was merrily busy, and the 
Eastern girls declared that never before had 
they had so much fun. 

A great caldron was placed on the huge 
kitchen range, and the potatoes, with their 
jackets on, were soon gently boiling. Mrs. 
Dickson was making quantities of corn- 
bread, and Mrs. Darkus had gone to the cool- 
ing-cellar, to procure a custard, which was 
to be heaped with whipped cream. Betty 
Burd followed her, and then called, “ Oh, 
girls, come quick! Did you ever see so 
many pans of milk at once, and do look at 
all of that thick, yellow cream ! ” 

“Yum! Yum!” Rosamond exclaimed. 
“ I do believe that I will marry a cowboy if 
I can persuade one to have me.” 

“I am thinking of taking up that pro- 
fession,” a merry voice called back of them, 
and, whirling around, the girls were sur- 
prised to see Bob Angel, who was smiling at 
them mischievously. 


ON A EANCH 


259 


But Rose did not like to be teased, and so 
with a toss of her curly head, she retreated 
into the kitchen. 

“ Why, Bob,” Adele said, “ where did you 
come from? I thought you were out round- 
ing up the cattle, whatever that may 
mean.” 

“ So I have been,” the lad replied. “ But 
now I am the fore-rider, and I was sent 
ahead to notify Elsie that the cattle will 
arrive in this valley in about twenty min- 
utes. Her father wished me to tell her that 
he would send the men in relays of ten 
each.” Then, as Mrs. Darkus appeared 
from the cellar with a great bowl of thick, 
yellow cream, Bob called toward the kitchen- 
door, “ Rosie ! Don’t you let the first relay 
eat all of that cream. Save a little of it for 
your cowboy.” 

There was no reply, and so the merry lad, 
mounting his pony, galloped away. 

Then, what a hurry and scurry there was 
in the Double-Bar kitchen. The girls, who 


260 


ADELE DORING 


had on big aprons, dipped out the mealy 
potatoes and peeled enough for ten hungry 
men, while Mr. Moore appeared with a quar- 
ter of beef cooked a savory brown. Just 
when everything was ready, there was a 
whooping and bellowing without. Peggy 
Pierce, running to the veranda, called, “ Oh, 
girls, look quick ! See that big herd of cat- 
tle coming around the mountains. And ten 
cowboys are galloping this way at top speed 
and shouting like wild Indians.” 

Mr. Darkus and Mr. Dickson and their 
cowboys were in this first relay, and soon 
they were standing in line, taking turns at 
splashing in the big basins of water which 
had been prepared for them on a bench out- 
side the kitchen-door. 

Doris Drexel, Peggy, Gertrude, and 
Bertha were the waitresses, and Peggy de- 
clared afterwards that she had not sup- 
posed that men could be so hungry. There 
was much laughter and joking among the 
cowboys, and it kept Bertha busy just filling 
and refilling the glasses with lemonade. 


ON A RANCH 


261 


Then, before long, they were gone and the 
other relay arrived. 

Rosamond, Elsie, Eva, and Adele were 
the waitresses this time, and Bob gave one 
of them a merry glance as she passed him 
by. He noticed that she purposely avoided 
looking at him, and, when it came to the 
dessert, he called gayly, “ Rosie, do you re- 
member what I asked you? ” 

Now Rose had hidden an especially 
tempting dish of custard, heaped with 
whipped cream, and, relenting, she brought 
it out. As she set it before him, Bob said 
softly in her ear, “ Don’t be mad at me, 
Rosie! I won’t be a cowboy if you don’t 
want me to. Just name the profession that 
you prefer and I’ll be it, even if it is the 
President of the United States.” 

“Oh, Bob, you’re such a tease,” that 
pretty girl replied as she hurried into the 
kitchen. 

Then, when the men had gone back to the 
valley to start cutting out the cattle, the 
women and girls had their dinner, and 


262 


ADELE DORING 


Peggy declared that she believed that she 
herself was as hungry as the men had been. 

They all helped clear the things away, 
and in an incredibly short time the kitchen 
was as tidy as could be. 

Elsie, taking off her big apron, called 
gayly, “Now, girls, get on your hats, and 
let’s go and watch the round-up.” 


CHAPTER THIKTY-FOUR 

DONALD DARE'S RANCH 

Joyfully the girls climbed a high sand- 
mound, and, sitting in a row, watched the 
cowboys cutting out cattle bearing the dif- 
ferent brands. These were kept bunched 
together. 

When at last it was all over and Miguel 
had driven the Bar X cattle away and the 
other men had departed with theirs, Mr. 
Dearman rode up and said, “Well, Eva, 
suppose you girls get ready now to return 
home.” 

“ Oh, Mr. Dearman,” Elsie cried, “ how I 
do wish that they could stay all night with 
me ; that is, if they can sleep three in a bed.” 

“ Oh, of course we can ! ” Betty Burd de- 
clared. “We could sleep four in a bed if 

need be ; at least, I'm sure that I could.” 

263 


264 


ADELE DORING 


“I think that it would be jolly fun to 
stay,” Eva replied ; “ and we’ll all come rid- 
ing home to-morrow morning.” 

Mr. Dearman willingly consented to this 
plan, and the boys from Bar X decided to 
remain and camp for the night in a hollow 
not far from the house. 

Donald Dare wanted to visit his ranch, 
which was only a few miles away in Hog 
Canyon, and he asked Adele if she and some 
of the other girls would like to go with 
him. 

Most of them said that they would rather 
rest, not being used to the saddle, and 
Mandy and Eva were planning to help Elsie 
prepare for so many guests. But little 
Betty Burd, who loved nothing better than 
a canter on her wiry pony, gladly accepted, 
and soon the three galloped away over the 
hard, white sand. 

“ Oh, what a picturesque place this is ! ” 
Adele exclaimed in delight, as they paused 
at the entrance to the most beautiful little 
canyon on the desert. In the valley there 


ON A RANCH 


265 


were cottonwood trees, and a stream purled 
among them, for higher up there was a 
mountain spring of cool spariding water, 
which was seldom dry. A small adobe 
house was built in the shelter of the trees. 

“ I’m glad you like it,” Donald declared. 
“ I love this little place, and, if I can man- 
age to live here part of the time for three 
years and make improvements on it, then it 
will truly be my very own. I have fifty 
head of cattle now, and Mr. Dearman is go- 
ing to look out for them while I am away at 
school. Rusty Pete and Miguel will brand 
my new calves, so that I need not lose them, 
and each summer I will spend my vacation 
here. Then, when I am a young man,” he 
added, turning to Adele with his frank, 
boyish smile, “I mean to build a real 
artistic Swiss chalet on the mountain-side 
and live here part of every year.” 

“ I almost wish that I were a boy,” Adele 
said brightly, “ for I do so enjoy this life.” 

“ So do I,” chimed in Betty Burd. “ Oh, 
Della, couldn’t we ask the Government to 


266 


ADELE DORING 


give us a piece of the desert for our very 
own? ” 

“ I’m afraid not, Little One,” Adele laugh- 
ingly replied; and soon thereafter, when 
Donald reported that everything was all 
right on his ranch, they turned their horses’ 
heads once more toward Double Bar. 


CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE 


ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE 

After supper the boys who had remained 
to escort the girls homeward the next day, 
disappeared with two of Mr. Slater’s cow- 
boys, and, just as it was beginning to grow 
dark, they came to the ranch door and asked 
the girls to accompany them. As it was 
cool, the puzzled maidens slipped on their 
sweater-coats and went out. 

“I wonder where they are leading us,” 
Adele said to Elsie, who was walking at her 
side. 

“ Oh, I suppose they have planned a frolic 
for our entertainment,” Elsie replied gayly. 

The trail led down into a sandy hollow, 
which was sheltered from the winds, and 
there, in the middle of it, the girls saw a pile 
of mesquite roots and whole bushes near by. 

“Welcome to our camp,” Jack called 
267 


268 


ADELE DORING 


merrily as he stooped with a lighted match, 
and instantly the dry leaves and twigs 
caught fire and sent brilliant flames leaping 
up into the gathering darkness. 

“ Sit down, fair maids, in a circle around 
our camp fire,” Bob Angel exclaimed, “ and 
you will have the pleasure of hearing a few 
tales of the wild and woolly West.” 

Such a merry hour followed, for each cow- 
boy tried to tell a tale more startling than 
the one before, and some of them were so 
truly scary that the girls huddled close to- 
gether, and Rosamond uttered such a sin- 
cere cry of fright that Bob leaped to her 
side, and, sitting down on the sand, re- 
marked, “ I see that I am needed over here 
to protect this little flower girl.” 

“ You might just as well have chosen that 
place in the beginning, Bob,” his sister 
Bertha teased, “ since we all knew that 
sooner or later you would arrive there.” 

Bob chuckled as he said, “ Don’t you mind 
what they say, Rosie.” Then, knowing that 
the golden-haired maiden did not like to be 


ON A RANCH 


269 


teased, lie hastily added, “Now all of the 
cowboys have told an adventure except Pete. 
Say, old man, tell us, how did you happen to 
get that name, Rusty? ” 

“ Oh, when I was a little shaver I lived in 
a copper camp. I used to go down in the 
mines and come out covered with the dust, 
and the men said that I looked rusty,” that 
cowboy smilingly replied. “ You see, there 
isn’t any story to it.” 

“All right, then,” Bob declared. “ If that 
part of our program is over, we will begin 
on the next. Up, everybody, and join in an 
Indian powwow. You girls watch us boys, 
and do just what we do.” 

Every one sprang up, and the boys, shriek- 
ing “ Ki ! Yi ! ” ran about the fire, holding 
their hands high above them, and doing all 
of the wild Indian antics which they had 
often witnessed on the moving-picture 
screen. The girls, entering into the fun, 
tried to do likewise, and such shouting and 
laughter as there was in that desert hollow. 
Now and then a dry mesquite bush was 


270 


ADELE DOBING 


thrown on the fire, and the flames, leaping 
up into fresh brilliancy, lighted the many 
glowing faces. 

At last, all out of breath, Rosamond sank 
to the sand and the other girls followed her 
example. 

“ Now,” spokesman Bob announced, “ the 
second part of our program being success- 
fully completed, we will begin upon the 
third.” 

“ Oh, Bob ! ” Elsie declared, “ I fear it is 
long past our bedtime, but it’s all such jolly 
fun that we don’t want to stop.” 

“ Part three closes our entertainment for 
this evening,” Bob told her; and the girls, 
wondering what it could be, found out a mo- 
ment later. 

Bob and Jack, with long poppers filled 
with corn, knelt by the fire, which had been 
allowed to die down to glowing embers, and 
then, when the kernels were puffed and 
white, it was salted and passed around, that 
each guest might take a handful. Donald 
soon appeared with a bucket, which, he told 


ON A RANCH 


271 


them, contained the choicest of beverages, 
and Jhen he offered each fair maid a dipper 
of spring water. 

When the girls at last arose to depart, 
they appointed Elsie as spokesman, and she 
dramatically exclaimed, “ Cowboys ! In the 
name of your fair guests, whom you have so 
royally entertained this evening, I wish to 
thank you.” 

Then Bob and Jack seized burning mes- 
quite roots from the camp fire and lighted 
the way back to the ranch house. 


CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX 


FAREWELL TO THE DESERT 

When the gay cavalcade of young people 
rode up the Silver Creek trail toward Bar X 
the next morning, they beheld Miguel com- 
ing down from the mesa. He had been to 
the Junction, to get the mail. 

As soon as the girls saw him they started 
their ponies on a gallop, shouting joy- 
fully, “ Letters from home ! ” 

The smiling Mexican tossed the mail- 
pouch to Mr. Dearman, who had come out on 
the porch to receive it, and the girls gathered 
about him. 

“ Oh, Mr. Postman, please give me a 
letter ! ” they chorused eagerly. 

There were letters for all, and the last one 
Mr. Dearman held high, as he teasingly in- 
quired, “ Now, which of you maidens will 
have this one? ” 


272 


ON A RANCH 


273 


“ I will ! ” Adele called, and the beaming 
postman dropped it into her outstretched 
hands. 

“ Oh, brother ! ” that happy girl cried, 
“ it’s from Mumsie, and it bears a Liverpool 
postmark. Do you suppose that means that 
they are starting for home? ” 

The month previous Mrs. Doring had ac- 
companied her husband to England on a 
business trip, and it had made Adele lonelier 
to think that an ocean as well as a continent 
lay between them. 

“If you are really curious,” Jack sug- 
gested, “suppose you open the letter and 
find out.” 

This was done, and the two brown heads 
bent over the paper for one moment. Then, 
with a cry of joy, Adele danced about, 
hugging whoever came in her way, her eyes 
shining with happiness. 

“Della!” Eva exclaimed. “Do tell us 
what’s in the letter.” 

“Mumsie and Dad are coming home. 
They will be in Sunnyside next week,” Adele 


274 


ADELE DOBING 


exclaimed breathlessly. “And, oh, Eva, 
please don’t think me an ungrateful guest 
when I say that I just must be there to meet 
them. I’ve never been away from my 
Mumsie before, not even for one night, and 
now we haven’t seen each other for nearly 
three long months.” 

Eva slipped her arm around her friend’s 
waist, and in her heart was such a wistful 
yearning. She did not say it, but she was 
thinking that it was three long years since 
her darling mother had died, and she would 
go anywhere, suffer anything, if only she 
could meet her again. But she blinked back 
the tears that would come, and, smiling 
bravely, she said, “ I understand, Della. I 
would want to do the same thing if I were 
you.” 

Then such a hustle and bustle as there was 
during the next two days, for it had been de- 
cided that Adele and Jack were to travel 
back home with the others in the private car. 
Doris Drexel had had a wire from her father, 
who was in Bisbee, saying that three of the 


ON A RANCH 


275 


men in the party had decided to go to the 
Colorado Mountains on a bear-hunt, and, in 
consequence, there would be three berths 
vacant. 

“ But Jackie and I will only need two of 
them,” Adele exclaimed. “ Who else wants 
to go East? ” 

Then, to her surprise, Donald Dare 
stepped forward, and, in his courteous way, 
said, “Miss Doris, would your father be will- 
ing to permit me to occupy the third berth?” 

“ Oh, Donald,” Doris declared, “ of course 
he would ; but I didn’t know that you were 
returning East so soon.” 

Mr. Dearman placed a kindly hand on 
Donald’s shoulder as he said, “My boy, I 
know that you are anxious to see your 
mother, and if you care to go now, I will 
promise you that your ranch and cattle will 
be looked after to the best of our ability. 
Isn’t that so, Rusty Pete? ” 

“It is, indeed, sir,” the cowboy replied 
earnestly. “ I’ll look after it for you, Don- 
ald, as if it were my own.” 


ADELE DORING 


276 

The boy thanked the two men, and half an 
hour later, when Adele was standing alone 
at the pasture fence, saying good-by to the 
wiry pony she had ridden all summer, she 
heard a step approaching, and she smiled a 
welcome as Donald Dare stood beside her. 

“Are you glad that I am going with you, 
Adele? ” the boy asked. 

“ Oh, indeed, I am ! ” the girl replied 
frankly. “And how happy your little 
mother will be to see you ! ” 

Then, turning, they walked back, stopping 
a moment to look over the shimmering sand 
toward the Bald Mountains, where lay Don- 
ald’s ranch. “ I want to go East for a time,” 
the boy said earnestly. “ But, oh, I do so 
love this free desert life. I know I shall 
soon want to come back.” 

Adele smiled understandingly, and then 
together they walked on toward the ranch 
house. 

The next morning early the station mas- 
ter’s son appeared with a lumbering vehicle, 


ON A RANCH 


277 


and, with, the help of the boys, the trunks 
and bags were stacked thereon and it rum- 
bled away again over the mesa. 

Then, later, when all were ready to go to 
the station, the hayrack appeared, and, after 
having said good-by to Senora Gabriella, 
Bonita, and Miguel, the throng of girls 
climbed in and sat upon the straw. Rusty 
Pete drove, and he invited Mandy to sit at 
his side. Mr. Dearman and the boys rode 
on horseback, and, just to enliven the scene, 
Rattlesnake Jack, Stampede Bob, and Don- 
ald Dare now and then fired shots into the 
air. 

The long drive to Douglas took several 
hours, and there they found the private car 
on a siding, and Mr. Drexel watching for 
them. He was indeed glad to meet Mr. 
Dearman, but, before they had long to visit, 
the train which was to bear them eastward 
arrived, their car was attached, and the 
young people, after having given those who 
were to remain behind hugs or hand-shakes, 
trooped aboard and then waved from the 


278 


ADELE DORING 


open windows, while the puffing engine drew 
them slowly out of sight. 

That night, while the others were making 
merry within, Adele sat alone on the ob- 
servation platform, looking at the stars that 
seemed like jewels in the wide, dark sky, and 
then at the silent desert about her. 

Something in her nature responded to the 
vastness and the peace of it. She heard her 
name called within, and, rising, she stretched 
out her arms as she said, “ Good-by, won- 
derful desert ! Some day I am coming 
back.” 

If you care to hear more of these young 
people, read “ Adele Doring at Boarding- 
School.” 


THE END 


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